KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will re-open to all vaccinated tourists from April 1, authorities said Tuesday, joining a growing number of countries removing restrictions in an attempt to live with COVID-19.
The tourism-reliant Southeast Asian country, known for its white-sand beaches and lush rainforests, shut its borders in March 2020 but will now require only a negative coronavirus test to enter.
“The government has decided to open its borders on April 1, 2022,” Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said in media briefing.
“We believe this decision will boost our economy and help revive our ailing tourism sector.”
The re-opening comes despite Malaysia reporting more than 25,000 infections a day in recent weeks, though most cases have been mild.
Its decision mirrors those of neighboring nations including Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines that are progressively easing entry rules to lure back tourists.
Malaysia’s economy contracted 5.6 percent in 2020 as Covid hit but rebounded slightly to grow 3.1 percent last year.
Malaysia-based AirAsia, one of Southeast Asia’s top budget airlines, called the move “timely” and said it “will provide a strong impetus” for recovery in tourism and aviation.
Group chief executive Bo Lingam told AFP the carrier hoped to move around a million passengers in the first week.
Vaccinated travelers will not be subject to quarantine but will need to produce a negative PCR test two days before arrival and take an antigen test in the 24 hours after entry.
Previously only travelers from Singapore were allowed quarantine-free entry.
Malaysia has recorded more than 3.6 million Covid cases to date with more than 33,000 deaths.
About 80 percent of the country’s 32 million population have been fully vaccinated.
Malaysia to re-open for tourists after two-year COVID-19 closure
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Malaysia to re-open for tourists after two-year COVID-19 closure
Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The police department confirmed its officers were on the scene but didn’t immediately say if anyone was arrested.
Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. The LA police department eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still at the scene, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
