PUTRAJAYA: The government has no plan to bar all travellers from China from entering Malaysia amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said there is no need for a total ban on Chinese nationals at the moment.
She said the focus remains on ensuring that all travellers, especially those coming in from China, undergo mandatory health screening procedures at the country’s entry points.
“This issue (whether to expand the ban to all Chinese nationals) has been discussed. However, at the meeting today, we see that there is no need for it, but we have to tighten screening measures.
“All Malaysians, as well as other nationals returning from China or who have been to China in the last 14 days, must undergo the health screening.
“If they show no symptoms, they will be sent home for self-quarantine for 14 days. If tested positive (following a throat swab taken), they will be sent to hospital for treatment,” she said, adding that it would take about five hours for the test results to show.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) chairman, was speaking to reporters after chairing Nadma’s high-level committee special meeting on Covid-19 at the Prime Minister’s Department here today.
With the addition of 26 thermal scanners, Malaysia now has about 80 such equipment throughout the country at all entry points.
Previously, there were only 54 thermal scanners nationwide. There had been a demand for more scanners at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in Johor.
Dr Wan Azizah said that as of Friday, there has been no new case of Covid-19 in Malaysia, keeping the total at 22.
She said 17 of the patients have recovered and been discharged, while five others are receiving treatment.
Of the five patients, she said, three are warded at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, one at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Kedah and one at Hospital Sungai Buloh.
“Malaysia is still at the early containment phase, where there is no widespread human to human transmission case in the country; no sporadic cases detected within the community; no death recorded; and we are still able to manage the situation with our existing capacity and capability.”
Dr Wan Azizah also gave an update on the 22nd Covid-19 case in Malaysia involving an 83-year-old American woman.
She said the senior citizen is still unwell, even though the latest two tests conducted on her showed she is now negative for the virus.
“She is however still unwell and will be treated until she shows no symptoms of the virus,” she said.
The woman was among a group of 145 passengers of a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia on Feb 13.