Malaysia's announcement that it is exploring travel bubbles with other countries to revive the tourism industry has drawn cautious optimism from experts, who say the government first needs to bring down coronavirus infections, which have recently been rising by close to 2,000 new cases daily.
"We need to work harder to bring the number down to a manageable level first. This is to ensure that the 'bubble' will not deflate soon after its implementation," Professor Sazaly Abu Bakar, director of the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre at Universiti Malaya, told The Straits Times.
Professor Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud, an epidemiologist at Universiti Malaya, said the factors that must be carefully considered include economic benefits, feasibility of such travel bubbles, health risks and plans to mitigate risks. The number of new cases in the countries concerned also had to be taken into account, as well as the number of new daily infections per capita, tests per capita, positivity rate, severity of infection in those countries, and rate of increase or decrease in cases.
"Malaysia and whatever country it is negotiating with will need to agree on criteria for a reasonably safe environment before such a travel bubble can be agreed on," Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba said.
"One needs to remember that the pandemic situation can take a turn for the worse quickly in countries... So such a travel bubble needs to take that possibility into account and take appropriate measures to ameliorate the situation."
Senior Minister in charge of Security Ismail Sabri last Saturday said the nation's borders cannot remain closed for too long and that "Covid-19 will always be around us, like dengue".
Malaysia suffered a 78.6 per cent drop in tourist arrivals between January and September, against the corresponding period last year.
According to Tourism Malaysia, Singapore was the country's top source of tourists last year, with Indonesia second, and China third.
Currently, the foreigners allowed to enter the country are mostly spouses or children of citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders.
Malaysia reopened its border with Singapore for essential travel on Aug 17, but with restrictions. In August, Singapore allowed Malaysians with Singapore work passes to serve a seven-day stay-home notice (SHN) at their own residence as Covid-19 prevalence rates in Malaysia were similar to Singapore's at the time.
But from Nov 22, following a spike in Malaysia's Covid-19 numbers, anyone entering Singapore with a travel history to Malaysia in the previous 14 days is now required to complete a 14-day SHN at a dedicated facility, and undergo a swab test.
Malaysia, on its part, has shortened its quarantine period for incoming travellers to 10 days from 14 days, beginning on Monday.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri does not deny that there are hurdles in the bubble plan: "With many countries previously designated as green zones having experienced resurgences of the virus, it remains challenging to kick-start general tourism and country-to-country travel," Datuk Seri Nancy told ST.
But Malaysia is continuing to pursue "extensive discussions" at regional and international levels "for when the situation surrounding Covid-19 gets better and when countries are ready to receive international leisure travellers in the future".
The activities the ministry is exploring for visitors include golfing, diving, bird watching, hiking and caving, with pre-planned itineraries through registered travel operators.
Malaysia recorded 1,295 new cases yesterday, bringing total infections to 87,913. With seven more fatalities, the death toll stands at 429.
