LANGKAWI: Despite an uptrend in Covid-19 cases, Penang and Langkawi remain prime tourist destinations for those who see vacations as an “absolute necessity”.
Langkawi Development Authority chief executive officer Nasaruddin Abdul Muttalib said the holiday island had received 1.2 million tourists since January.
Between July 1 and 12, he said 89,133 local and foreign tourists had visited the island.
The number of tourist arrivals was expected to reach 200,000 this month, he added.
“It seems the rise in Covid-19 cases has not affected the holiday mood at all. The number of tourists arriving in Langkawi has been good,” he said when contacted.
Nasaruddin, however, urged visitors to continue wearing face masks and practising physical distancing in crowded places.
Tourists enjoying their walk at the walkway of the newly built Esplanade during the weekend holiday in George Town, Penang. - K.T.GOH/The Star
In Penang, state tourism and creative economy committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said the number of international direct flights had increased by 783%, from 12 weekly flights in January to 106 weekly flights this month.
“Penang is the second highest in terms of receiving international direct flights after KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport).
“The statistics clearly show that Penang remains one of the preferred destinations,” he said.
The Travel + Leisure website recently released Asia’s Best Award 2022, with Langkawi and Penang taking fifth and eighth spots in the “Top 10 Islands in South-East Asia” category.
The website is known for being a resource for hotels, flight sales, city guides and travel tips.
Although the number of tourist arrivals indicated a positive economic outlook for the country, health experts have expressed concern about the virus mutating, which will lead to new variants of concern.
Universiti Sains Malaysia virologist Dr Kumitaa Theva Das said wearing face masks is a must, especially in poorly ventilated areas where the virus can stay in the air for hours.
“The public should always conduct Covid-19 self-tests whenever they have symptoms in order to keep the public safe.”
She said the virus had been constantly mutating.
“Omicron BA.5 is most likely not the last variant we will see,” she said, noting that BA.2.75 is the latest variant in other parts of the world and may outnumber BA.5.
“First detected in India, it has now spread to at least 10 other countries.
“And just like BA.5, there are early indicators that it may also be able to evade antibodies from early infections.
“So we are still quite far away from moving into an endemic phase,” she noted.
She said the positive part was that Malaysians are now more aware of their infection status and more conscious of symptoms.
Public health expert Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said getting a booster jab would be vital, especially for the high-risk group.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said three months after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, the public had started resetting a lot of processes.
“We are still cautious but there are some aspects of the SOP (standard operating procedure) which must still be adhered to, particularly physical distancing and masking properly, which I can see there is a bit of relaxation among the people,” he said.
In an effort to move to the endemic phase, he said everyone should follow all SOP that had been proven to work effectively.
“The public now know the difficulty and agony of being locked down.
“Let’s appreciate the freedom we have now with some responsibility to protect ourselves by preventing the virus from spreading widely,” he added.
