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Singapore and Malaysia have reopened one of the world’s busiest land borders, allowing protected travelers to cross after nearly two years of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported.

The sudden closure of the border in March 2020 left tens of thousands of people stranded on both sides, separated from their families and fearful for their jobs.

Up to 300,000 Malaysians were commuting daily to wealthy city-state Singapore before the pandemic.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaqoub is also scheduled to make his first official visit as prime minister to Singapore on Monday.

Under the new arrangement, up to 1,440 travelers from each side can travel if they hold citizenship, permanent residence or long-term visas in the destination country, without undergoing quarantine, according to guidelines published by the Singapore government.

People in Singapore are boarding a bus for vaccinated travelers to Malaysia with the reopening of borders nearly two years later. Photo: Raslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

Travelers must test negative for Covid-19 before departure, and Malaysia also requires travelers to pass a Covid-19 test on arrival. Singapore on Sunday followed suit by ordering a test on arrival due to concerns about the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

On Monday, a fortified air travel corridor between the two countries also began.

Singapore has vaccinated 85% of its entire population, while Malaysia has vaccinated about 80%.

Singapore, with an aging population of 5.5 million, relies heavily on Malaysians living in the southern state of Johor, which is connected to Singapore by land, to operating companies ranging from restaurants to semiconductor manufacturing.

Singapore reported 747 locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the lowest tally since mid-September. Malaysia has reported 4,239 cases, the lowest number since early November.

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