Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has announced that the face mask mandate will be removed starting from 1 May 2022. However, this only applies to outdoor areas while face masks are still mandatory for indoor areas.
For clarity, the Ministry of Health says that areas deemed as indoors include buses, trains, e-hailing rides, classrooms, offices, shopping malls, and elevators. On another hand, the ministry also pointed out that areas outside of a building, bus stops, open-air walkways and bridges, parks, and fields are considered outdoor areas whereby masks are optional.
In addition to that, masks are also optional for certain indoor activities such as solo exercise, eating, drinking, speech, and stage performances. Despite the changes in the policy, MoH still encourages the public to wear face masks especially in crowded outdoor areas as well as for high-risk and symptomatic individuals.
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At the same time, the social distancing requirement as stipulated by the National Security Council’s SOP will be removed as well. Nevertheless, MoH has also encouraged the public to retain social distancing in maskless settings.
