He said the Omicron variant had delayed Malaysia’s plan to move into the endemic stage, delaying the reopening of the borders as well.

“We almost announced that Malaysia had entered the endemic stage, but in December 2021, the Omicron variant, which is a super spreader, was detected. However, Omicron is not as bad as Delta. It spreads quickly but is not as dangerous as Delta,” he said at the dinner with Keluarga Malaysia in Cambodia on Wednesday night.

Ismail said Malaysians would eventually need to learn to live with Covid-19. “We have to accept it as any other disease such as dengue,” he said.

“I know a lot of you are eager to come back home. I understand some of you have not gone back home for almost two years.

”So, we will start opening our borders to the whole world soon and you can return to Malaysia.”

There are about 5,000 Malaysians living in Cambodia, and 2,000 of them are in the capital Phnom Penh.

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