Coronavirus: Malaysia resumes ticket sales for quarantine-free travel to Singapore; Western Australia to stay shut over Omicron fears
- Malaysia will halve the ticket quota, however, for air and land travel
- Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said reopening would be delayed indefinitely amid a surge in the Omicron variant in eastern states
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in a statement said the ticket sales resumption follows a risk evaluation on the current Covid-19 situation in both countries.
The country will halve the ticket quota, however, for air and land travel. Increasing ticket quotas will be based on risk assessments from time to time on the virus situation in both countries, he said.
Singapore’s total new Covid-19 cases fell to 1,472 on Thursday, from 1,615 the previous day, Ministry of Health data showed.
However, the infection growth rate, which tracks the spread of the virus in the community, climbed to 2.17 as of January 20. One Covid-related death was reported.
Separately, about 100,000 people have entered Singapore from Malaysia under the VTL arrangement that commenced on November 29, The Straits Times reported, citing the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Some 55,000 people came in via land, while about 44,000 people travelled by air, the report said.