PETALING JAYA: The decision to reopen borders is made based on three guiding principles, said Senior Minister (Defence) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

       “To ease and remove complications for travellers; to make a decision based on scientific data and facts; and lastly, to compare with other countries reopening their borders. “However, for countries that have yet to reopen their borders, we will continue using the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) method like what we have with Singapore.

       “VTLs with Thailand and Brunei have already been announced and will be implemented soon. We have also been in discussions with other countries on implementing more VTLs but for now, I can’t say much more on that,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

       While a date to reopen the country’s borders had been set by the Covid-19 Quartet Ministers’ Meeting, it would still need to be presented to the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet, he said.

       “The Prime Minister will make the official announcement,” he added.But the government is also closely following the emergence of new variants that might disrupt plans, such as the Omicron variant that temporarily suspended ticket sales from Dec 23, 2021, until Jan 20 this year.On the Omicron variant itself, Hishammuddin said data from the Health Ministry showed a huge drop in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths linked to Covid-19 compared to August 2021.

       “Based on the briefing by the Health Ministry earlier, we have seen a decoupling trend for the time being in ICU admissions and deaths due to Covid, which is 80-90% less compared to August last year despite there being more cases now.

       “The Health Ministry has said it will use the next two weeks to study trends to see if it maintains or changes. Any loosening of restrictions in the future will be made accordingly,” he said.