Health Minister Dr S.Subramaniam said the government would not ban travel to the two countries as it would be a drastic action which could create social issues as many Malaysians are working in Singapore.

“More than 200,000 Malaysians are plying to and from Singapore daily for work and it is their rice bowl,” he told reporters after opening a student workshop here yesterday.

Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid had said on Saturday that all schools had been directed not to conduct visits to Singapore and the Philippines for the time being to prevent the spread of the Zika virus.

Dr Subramaniam said that even though there was no travel ban, Malaysians should be cautious especially when experiencing infection symptoms such as fever.

He said the people should be proactive in preventing the Zika virus from spreading by ensuring that their surroundings did not become Aedes mosquito breeding grounds and not after something bad had happened.

“It is my hope with heightened awareness of the disease, the community needs to eradicate all Aedes mosquito breeding sites to reduce the spread of Zika virus,” he said.

As at yesterday, there were four Zika cases confirmed in the country, with the latest case detected on Sept 7 in Johor Bahru.