PETALING JAYA: Breaking home quarantine rules, issues in complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for umrah pilgrimages and the worrying number of Omicron Covid-19 variant cases among returnees from Saudi Arabia are among the factors that led the government to impose umrah curbs, says Khairy Jamaluddin (pic).
The Health Minister, who announced the suspension of umrah pilgrimages for Malaysians starting Jan 8 and the imposition of mandatory quarantine at designated centres for returning pilgrims beginning Jan 3, said Umrah pilgrims made up 50% of the 64 confirmed Omicron cases in Malaysia.
The ministry was also now waiting for whole genome sequencing (WGS) results for another 966 samples of presumptive Omicron cases, of which 750 or 77.6% involved travellers arriving from Saudi Arabia, to confirm if they were indeed Omicron infections.
"No Muslim minister would want to do this.
"It is not the intention of the government or the Health Ministry to stop umrah pilgrimages but when the data that we receive is deeply concerning and there is a very worrying rise in cases, we have no choice but to temporarily suspend umrah travels.
"I’m very sorry to those who have planned to go," said Khairy in a press conference on Saturday (Jan 1).
As of Dec 30, 2021, the ministry had also detected nine clusters involving umrah pilgrims, of which five clusters involved index cases infected with the Omicron variant, one cluster involved an index case which was a presumptive Omicron infection and three remaining clusters involved non-Omicron index cases.
Large-scale gatherings involving travellers from various countries while in Saudi Arabia exposed umrah pilgrims to a high risk of getting Covid-19 infections including the Omicron variant, said Khairy, adding that it also made it difficult for pilgrims to comply with the umrah SOPs set by the Malaysian government.
Umrah pilgrims may also have been infected while in Saudi Arabia but were still in the incubation period of the infection causing the screening test before returning to Malaysia to turn up negative, he said.
"The large number of Malaysian umrah arrivals of about 800 to 1,000 a day (using four special flights) further increases the risk of importing Covid-19 cases and the Omicron variant into the country.
"Most of the pilgrims who return from performing umrah have applied to undergo quarantine at home or a residence for a period of seven days.
"However, when there is noncompliance to SOPs, Covid-19 cases among umrah pilgrims lead to the spread of infection among family members.
"Non-compliance with quarantine procedures at home has also exposed housemates or neighbours and relatives who come to visit to Covid-19 infections," he said.
Prior to the government deciding on imposing umrah curbs, Khairy said a special discussion was held on Dec 31, 2021, involving multiple agencies involved in Umrah management including the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, the Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj Department (Jawhar), the Transport Ministry, the National Security Council (NSC), the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), the Immigration Department and the Association of Umrah and Hajj Travel Agents (Papuh).
It was followed by a special meeting chaired by Senior Minister (Defence) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
The outcome of the meeting was submitted for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's approval before the government agreed to temporarily suspend the permission for umrah travels from Jan 8.
"Situational risk assessments of the Covid-19 Omicron variant in and outside the country, especially in Saudi Arabia, will be done periodically before any decision to allow the resumption of umrah activities are made," said Khairy.