KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has decided to postpone indefinitely registrations of students from Wuhan and the Hubei province in China at education institutions in Malaysia.
This was announced by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad today, in light of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
The announcement comes several hours after the 2019-nCoV, that has killed 170 people in China and infected more than 7,500 people around the world, was designated as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“The Education Ministry has decided to postpone the registration of students from Wuhan city and the Hubei province at all education institutions to a date that would be announced soon.
“Students from other provinces in China, however, are allowed to do so (register), in which, they would be monitored closely by the education institutions in Malaysia.
“At the same time, members of the education community, non-academic staff and students, regardless if they are (Malaysian) citizens and non-citizens who have a history of visiting and staying in Wuhan and the Hubei province would be placed under Observation and Isolation Orders for 14 days at their respective homes from the date of their departure. Each of them would also be issued a Health Alert Card,” he told reporters, here, today.
On WHO designating the outbreak as a global emergency, Dr Dzulkefly said Malaysia had been on top of things even before the declaration.
He informed that the number of confirmed 2019-nCoV cases in Malaysia stood at eight as of noon today, stressing that Malaysians were advised to postpone non-essential travel to cities and provinces in China affected by the outbreak.
Touching on the evacuation of Malaysians from Wuhan, he said the matter was still being worked on.
“I was made to understand that we are still in the process of evacuating our nationals from Wuhan. We are still waiting for the latest information.
“Having said that, we are in constant communication with all parties involved in the effort,” he said.
Apart from that, Dr Dzulkefly said there has been no ban placed on public gatherings in Malaysia amid the declaration by WHO, but members of the public were urged to observe best hygiene practices to protect themselves.
On reports that China’s aviation authority dispatched two Xiamen Airlines flights to bring back Wuhan citizens who are currently in Malaysia, back to the Chinese city, Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry has not been informed of such matter.
“However, I am sure that such information could be obtained from the Foreign Ministry,” he said.