He said the health ministry had yet to provide feedback on the proposal for evaluation by the Cabinet.

“We must find a balance between wanting to protect the tourism industry and the people’s health, so the health ministry will look into it in detail and propose to the Cabinet on the next step. As of today, our borders are still closed … there’s no discussion yet to reopen,” said Ismail.

The chairman of the recovery council, Muhyiddin Yassin, said on Tuesday that the council had recommended a full reopening of international borders by as early as March 1.

Ismail said the government was aware of the woes faced by the tourism industry but did not want the entry of foreign tourists to cause a spike in Covid-19 cases.

“I have friends (from my time serving as a minister) in the tourism ministry … friends who say they cannot survive, tour drivers who depend on income gained from ferrying travellers. Now, there are none (tourists), they cannot survive.

“That’s why we may eventually reopen the borders but, to do that, we have to get the health ministry’s advice. If the travellers who come here are infected, then it will only accelerate the increase in the number of cases and endanger our people’s health,” he said.

Ismail said the government had so far only reopened the Malaysia-Singapore border in Johor for fully vaccinated travellers.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA