WITH umrah travels set to resume on Feb 8, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) urged the Quartet (inter-ministerial committee) to expedite the COVID-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) and quarantine rules for returnees.
“We hope the Government doesn’t delay the matter as the Tourism, Arts and Culture, Health Ministry (MOH) and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) had approved umrah travels.
“Bear in mind that the Feb 8 is only one week away and a speedy reply from the Quartet will help us make the necessary preparations for umrah travels,” its vice president (Umrah and Hajj) Mohd Azri Abd Razak said, in a statement.
Last month, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin suspended umrah pilgrimage due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, particularly the Omicron variant among returnees from Saudi Arabia.
He also revealed that many returnees from the Holy Land had breached their home quarantine rules, which put their family members and the community at risk.
Touching on the matter, Azri suggested for the Government to allow those fully vaccinated to undergo home quarantine, with those having received the booster shots getting exempted from the measure, provided their PCR test came back negative.
Reopen borders the soonest
He added that those found positive for COVID-19 upon returning should be mandated to undergo isolation at the quarantine centres run by the Government.
“We must take note that Saudi Arabia doesn’t require Malaysian pilgrims to undergo quarantine if they are fully vaccinated.
“Let us take lessons from the Langkawi Island travel bubble regulations, where tourists are exempted from quarantine if they are fully vaccinated and their PCR tests came back negative,” Azri stressed.
On related matter, Azri urged the Government to reopen the borders as most Malaysian adults have taken their booster shots.
He added that Malaysia is one of the few countries which have yet to reopen its borders fully and it needed to be done soon to rejuvenate the tourism sector, particularly to help bumiputera community who are involved in umrah travels.
“As those have taken the booster shots suffer only mild symptoms when infected with the Omicron variant, Muslims should be allowed to go for their umrah pilgrimage,” Azri concluded. – Feb 1, 2022.
