After being required to wear face masks for over two years, Malaysia has finally made it optional to wear face masks indoors. The announcement was made by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today (7 September).
This means that all indoor areas previously requiring masks such as malls, restaurants and public transportation no longer require face masks to be worn. However, property owners are allowed to make a ruling for people to wear face masks on their property. This means that it is up the discretion of the property owner to decide whether face masks are mandatory on that property or not.
The decision was made due to the improvement of Covid-19 situation in the country, even as regulations keep being eased. Despite this, those belonging from high risk classes, such as the elderly, children or those with illnesses are still encouraged to wear face masks in order to protect themselves more. Khairy also encourages citizens to keep wearing face masks in densely crowded areas, such as places of worship, shopping malls and stadiums.
Whilst this new ease of rules is a great step at making us all feel as if life has returned to normal, we can’t help but feel a bit reminiscent of face masks, and we are sure it will feel odd to leave the house without worrying about grabbing a face mask on the way out.