Covid-19: Take strict preventive measures, Wan Fayshal tells govt

SHAH ALAM - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia youth urges the government to take stricter preventive measures by temporarily preventing the entry of tourists from China until the daily cases of Covid-19 are under control.

Its chief, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said it was in line with the call made by the President of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Uzaidi Udanis, for the government to learn from the first and second waves of Covid-19 which greatly impacted the country's tourism industry.

"The Malaysian government must learn from the mistake of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in February 2020 when they were slow to restrict the entry of tourists from risky countries.

"The government's mistake at that time resulted in the death of thousands of people and the destruction of the economy that has not yet recovered," he said in a statement on Monday.

China is now reported to be struggling with the presence of the Omicron subvariant, BF.7, which is believed to have caused a spike in Covid-19 infections in the country.

It thus prompted many countries, including Malaysia, to check the body temperature of tourists who entered their respective border gates.

Earlier, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the two main Covid-19 variants that are spreading in China – the BA.5.2 variant and the BF.7 variant – had been detected in Malaysia,

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who is the Machang MP, added that his party wanted the interests of the people to be prioritised over other matters when it comes to the latest threat of Covid-19.

"Agile and firm action needs to be taken immediately to curb the infection rate that occurs unexpectedly as it has happened in 2020, especially involving the movement of people in and out of the country's borders," he said.