KUALA LUMPUR: There is no need for the government to bar all flights to and from China at this moment, said the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).
Its president, Dr N. Ganabaskaran, said the association believed that the authorities have fully evaluated the risks, and that the situation was being monitored and controlled well.
“The decision to bar all travel to and from China is not an easy one to make.
“The situation has been assessed and evaluated thoroughly by our government with all factors taken into consideration,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak had prompted numerous countries and airlines to restrict travel to China as a precautionary measure.
This was despite the World Health Organisation saying that limits on travel were not needed to control the spread of the disease.
Except for flights from Hubei province, Malaysia has not banned any flights from other parts of China, except to Sabah and Johor.
AirAsia has flights from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to Wuhan, China — the epicentre of the outbreak — once daily.
The airline had extended its suspension of all flights to Wuhan until Feb 15.
Malindo Air had temporarily suspended two more flights between Malaysia and China, which are its Kota Kinabalu to Tianjin, and Johor Baru to Guangzhou routes, both until Feb 29.
This was announced after the suspension of its thrice-weekly services between Kota Kinabalu and Wuhan.
The Sabah government, meanwhile, temporarily suspended all flights from China following the outbreak, halting entry for all travellers from Chinese cities to Kota Kinabalu.
On Jan 27, it was reported that the government had also suspended visa facilities for Chinese tourists from Wuhan and Hubei, as well as neighbouring provinces.
Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines have imposed restrictions on visa, entry and flights, while Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Administration had decided to suspend flights from mainland China.
Dr Ganabaskaran said Malaysia was prepared in preventing, detecting and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
He said Malaysia was ranked 18th out of 195 countries in the Global Health Security (GHS) Index 2019.
“According to the index, Malaysia appears to be more prepared than neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Indonesia, which were ranked 24th and 30th respectively.
“The GHS Index is an internationally recognised assessment of a country’s capability in handling any outbreak, including the 2019-nCoV.”