KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Malaysia’s daily Covid 19 cases could skyrocket to over 15,000 cases per day in January and February, if it doesn't suspend Umrah trips to Saudi Arabia, according to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Saudi Arabia is Malaysia's largest source of imported Omicron so far, the minister told a press conference on Thursday (Jan 6), as he announced 123 new Omicron cases, of which 88 cases or 71.54% were from those who returned from Saudi Arabia.

Since the variant was discovered in Malaysia last December, the country has detected a total of 245 Omicron cases, of which 64.08% involved Umrah pilgrims, Khairy said.

"If the Ministry of Health does not act on the data and postpone Umrah pilgrimages, we will not be able to stop the impending Omicron wave," he said.

The government last week announced that all Umrah trips will be suspended from Jan 8, to slow the spread of Omicron cases.

Khairy said this suspension will last for a month. "A risk assessment will be conducted from time to time inside and outside the country, especially in Saudi Arabia, before resuming Umrah travel," he said.

In the meantime, pilgrims who have just returned from Umrah must undergo quarantine in designated hotels or government-run quarantine centres.

The minister also pointed out that 17 imported Omicron cases in the country were found unvaccinated, with seven cases involving foreigners.

They comprise of four travellers who returned from the United Kingdom, four from Nigeria, four from the United Arab Emirates, and one each from Saudi Arabia, the United States, Australia, Ghana and Ireland.

"So, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were disregarded because only those who are vaccinated are allowed to travel. We will be talking to the relevant ministries to make sure agencies are following our SOPs.

"We are also looking into why they were not vaccinated, whether it is for health reasons or because they simply refused," he added.