KUCHING, Aug 9 — Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Karim Rahman Hamzah today said that his ministry welcomes the announcement on the reopening of hotels and homestays which has been forced to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The relaxation will bring positive impacts to the local workforce which can now look forward to employment and this will contribute to boosting our domestic economy when both employers and their employees can go to back to work,” he said in a statement.

On the relaxation of outdoor recreational and sporting activities but subject to strict standard operating procedures (SOPs), he said this will allow people to be active and healthy.

"This will contribute to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle among members of our communities irrespective of their backgrounds and age groups,” Karim, who is also the state Minister of Youth and Sports, said.

He said even though the relaxation is confined to non-physical contacts sports such as jogging, cycling, skateboarding, fishing, golf, tennis and badminton (single events), it is still good news.

He said the announcement on the relaxation measures is a good start for the country to resuming normalcy in their daily lives which had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced that fully-vaccinated individuals are allowed the benefits of staying as travelers at homestays and hotels within the same state they are in, but with such homestay and hotel operators required to ensure that individuals must show their digital certificate proving that they have received full vaccination against Covid-19.

The announcement meant that those living in Phase Two states with fully vaccinated status will get to enjoy staying at hotels for tourism purposes from Aug 10 onwards.

Currently under the NSC’s SOP for Phase Two states as of August 3, all tourism activities are on the negative list or disallowed such as zoos, farms, aquariums, edutainment centres, extreme adventure and nature parks and theme parks.

Under the NSC’s SOP for Phase Three states as of August 4, the same tourist attractions as well as snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing tourism, and recreational parks are already allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity.