In a statement, the party’s information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said the government should pay close attention to Covid-19 case numbers in countries that have received tourists from China.

“PAS suggests that the government be wary of the spread of new Covid-19 cases in the country.

“Malaysia needs to learn from how Covid-19 spread in 2020, when no measures were in place initially to prevent the entry of foreigners who may have been infected,” he said.

The health ministry yesterday announced that all travellers arriving in Malaysia will have to undergo temperature checks for fever amid concerns over a surge in Covid-19 cases in China.

Yesterday, Malaysia Tourism Agency Association (Mata) also urged the government to temporarily suspend the entry of tourists from China until the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the country declines.

Mata president Khalid Harun said the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in China had increased the potential for new variants of the virus to emerge, causing concern to Malaysians, especially tourism industry players.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii also urged the government to consider some form of travel restrictions on everyone arriving from China.

Yii said countries such as Japan, the United States, Italy, South Korea and India have imposed certain restrictions for travellers from China, especially after a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The government should seriously take the current threat and surge in Covid-19 cases in China into account and implement temporary emergency measures,” he said.

The latest Covid-19 variant – a sub-variant of Omicron – named BF.7 is believed to be driving the surge in infections in China.

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