He said the reopening of borders would enable family members who have not met each other for some time to be together during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations in May.

Ismail said the government was implementing a land vaccinated travel lane for quarantine-free travel to Brunei and Thailand, in addition to the existing VTL facility with Singapore and the one still under planning with Indonesia.

“To rejuvenate economic activities and tourism, especially in Johor, the federal government implemented the air and land VTL with Singapore on Jan 21 this year to facilitate the reunion of families separated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I understand that as many as 200,000 Malaysians commute between Singapore and Johor. They no longer need to undergo compulsory quarantine at home because they have performed health screening tests twice, namely when leaving a foreign country and upon arrival in Malaysia, ” he said.

Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said earlier today that the prime minister is expected to announce the reopening date next week. Khairy said the Cabinet had agreed this week on the border reopening.

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