between the two countries. on 24 november, the malaysian and singaporean governments agreed to establish a land vaccinated travel lane (vtl) between the two countries from 29 november. under the arrangement, 2,880 vaccinated malaysian and singaporean citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders would be able to cross the johor–singapore causeway each day. on 26 november, the government imposed temporary travel restrictions on foreign travellers from south africa, botswana, eswatini, lesotho, mozambique, namibia and zimbabwe in response to the detection of a new covid-19 variant known as the omicron variant. malaysian national and permanent residents will be allowed to enter malaysia but will have to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine. on 8 march 2022, prime minister ismail announced that malaysia's borders would be fully reopened to all travellers from 1 april. fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed to enter the country without having to undergo quarantine. impact economic impact i think it's very contained right now and there's ... no cause for panic at all, but we cannot be complacent about this and we'll continue to be on serious alert. —malaysia health minister dzulkefly ahmad during the conversation with cnbc on the situation of the outbreak in malaysia, 19 february 2020. the covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the malaysian economy. by late january 2020, the malaysian bursa malaysia stock market had tumbled as investors sold their stocks in response to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. by february 2021, the country's gross domestic product (gdp) had shrunk 3.4% in the fourth quarter from last year. in addition, the malaysian economy contracted 5.6% for all of 2020, its worst performance since the 1998 asian financial crisis. numerous sectors including the entertainment, retail, hospitality, and tourism sectors were affected by various lockdown and social distancing restrictions in response to outbreaks of covid-19 throughout 2020 and 2021. in addition, panic buying created a shortage of commodities such as surgical masks and hand sanitisers. in response, the government banned the export of facemasks and took steps to import more facemasks. the pandemic also drew attention to workplace safety and the exploitation of migrant workers working in malaysian industries. in response to the emergence of covid-19 clusters among migrant workers, the malaysian government was forced to take steps to improve their welfare and take action against "errant" employers. by 12 march 2021, 608,093 foreign workers had been screened for covid-19, with 9,653 of them testing positive. on 27 september 2021, malaysia's prime minister ismail sabri yaakob said the country's financial position was expected to improve in 2023, with the economy targeted to grow 4.5%-5.5% per year for the next five years. malaysia posted average annual growth of 2.7% between 2016 and 2020, due in large part to a 5.6% contraction last year due to the outbreak of covid-19. social impact main article: social impact of the covid-19 pandemic in malaysia the covid-19 pandemic led to social distancing restrictions on a wide range of activities including the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, religious gatherings, education, and sporting events. all sports and co-curricular activities in schools were postponed with immediate effects as announced by the country ministry of education. all sports and co-curricular activities in schools were postponed with immediate effects as announced by the country ministry of education. due to a decline in cases in may and june 2020, most places of worship and schools were allowed to reopen under certain health and social distancing restrictions. following a third wave of infections that began in september 2020, most places of worship and schools closed and shifted to online services and classes. political impact this section is an excerpt from impact of the covid-19 pandemic on politics in malaysia. the covid-19 pandemic has impacted and affected the political system of malaysia, causing suspensions of legislative activities and isolation of multiple politicians due to fears of spreading the virus. the onset of the pandemic coincided with a political crisis in early 2020 which continued into 2021 as the spread of covid-19 and emergency government measures exacerbated initially unrelated political instability, culminating in the resignation of prime minister muhyiddin yassin and his cabinet in august 2021. numerous elections have been postponed or suspended, after the 2020 sabah state election was blamed for a major outbreak in the state that led to the country's third wave. several politicians have tested positive for covid-19 in 2020 and 2021. aid and relief efforts the malaysian government along with various non-governmental organisations (ngos), companies, and foreign governments introduced a range of relief programs to address the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic in malaysia. on 23 march, the government allocated rm600 million to the ministry of health for the purchase of equipment and to hire medical personnel. it also allowed contributors of the employees provident fund (epf) to withdraw up to rm500 per month for 12 months. on 27 march 2020, prime minister muhyiddin yassin introduced an economic stimulus package known as the prihatin ("caring package") worth rm250 billion. in addition to the federal government's efforts to provide financial relief to small traders, victims and frontline health staff, the 13 state governments launched their own stimulus packages and financial aid in the form of rental waivers and deferment of student loan repayments to help their citizens to cope throughout the virus outbreak. in addition, the prime minister, deputy prime minister, and all other ministers and deputy ministers announced that they would contribute two months of their salaries to the covid-19 fund of malaysia. between january and march 2020, the sabah state government and various ngos raised aid and medical supplies for china, which was seriously affected by the covid-19 pandemic. following the rise in covid-19 cases in malaysia, the chinese government reciprocated malaysia's earlier help by assisting in the distribution of aid and medical supplies in malaysia. in addition, malaysia received aid from the united arab emirates, singapore, taiwan, turkey and the multinational corporation mcdonald's. mercy malaysia, the malaysian red crescent society along with various banks and telecommunications companies also provided customers with various forms of financial assistance and discounted services during the pandemic.