Malaysia joins Southeast Asia’s ‘living with Covid’ push with restart of interstate, outbound travel

In a widely expected move, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the reopening of interstate borders and relaxed rules for overseas travel

Malaysia’s borders remain largely shut to foreign visitors, though Ismail Sabri said a fuller reopening is under consideration amid rising vaccinations

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Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Photo: Bernama/dpa

Published: 5:16pm, 10 Oct 2021Updated: 12:09am, 11 Oct 2021

Malaysia will end a ban on interstate movement and relax outbound international travel for vaccinated residents starting Monday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, in a major reopening milestone as the country’s adult Covid-19 vaccination rate reached 90 per cent.

The latest move by Malaysia, roiled by a disastrous surge in cases earlier this year, comes as neighbours such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand begin eyeing broader reopening of their economies and borders in the coming months.

Ismail Sabri had been widely expected to announce the reopening of interstate travel in recent days, given the government’s previous pledge to do so when the adult vaccination rate hit 90 per cent.

Residents, especially those living and working in urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru have for months called on authorities to relax curbs on interstate travel to visit family living in rural areas.

Travel across Malaysia’s 13 states and three federal territories has largely been banned – except for certain permitted reasons – since January. Restrictions were lifted in December following an earlier series of lockdowns, but were reinstated as cases surged at the start of the year.