Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Malaysia expands China traveller ban as coronavirus spreads

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysia has a expanded a ban on visitors from China to include Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, after China’s decision to lock down cities in the provinces to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 800 lives.

The South-east Asian nation on Jan 27 imposed a temporary ban on travellers arriving from the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, and the surrounding province of Hubei.

Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the decision follows China’s move to extend its lockdown to five cities in Zhejiang and two in Jiangsu.

China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, has been on lockdown since Jan 23.

“Travel restrictions will be enforced in accordance with the lock-down region imposed by the Chinese Government,”Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 9).

The restriction will be imposed on all tourists regardless of nationality who have visited Hubei, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, she added.

“The Health Ministry, Immigration Department and other agencies at the Sultan Iskandar Complex (BSI) in Johor Baru, have also been told to increase monitoring efforts and give necessary advice to travellers from those entry points.

“Since the situation is still under control, it is still not necessary to ban entry from the whole of China except from those three provinces, which are placed under lockdown,” she reiterated.

Malaysia has reported 16 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Saturday, two of which had been discharged after making a recovery.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China has reached 811 as of Saturday, according to China’s National Health Commission.

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