KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian embassy in Rome is reaching out to Malaysians residing in Italy, following its lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.
A Foreign Ministry source yesterday said efforts to locate Malaysians in Italy were likely ongoing.
“The embassy has a coordinator in every area to identify Malaysians there,” the source said.
The number of Malaysians in Italy has yet to be determined.
Earlier, it was reported that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had signed a decree to put millions of people in the Lombardy region and 14 other provinces under lockdown.
The move came after a spike of 1,247 Covid-19 cases yesterday, with the country recording 5,883 cases and 233 deaths.
On the home front, the Health Ministry had advised Malaysians to postpone travel to Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in Italy; Hokkaido in Japan; and, Teheran, Qom and Gilan in Iran.
In another development, Malaysian ambassador to China Raja Datuk Nushirwan Zainal Abidin said the government had no plans to bring back 20,000 Malaysians from China, especially in Hubei province.
He said the government’s stance was in line with recent developments, including no reports of Malaysians in China testing positive for Covid-19.
“There are no requests from Malaysians there to be brought home. Everything is under control.
“We have set up a WeChat group to keep in touch and obtain information on any help needed,” he told Berita Harian yesterday.
On Feb 26, a special flight in the second evacuation of 66 Malaysian citizens and their non-citizen spouses and children from Wuhan arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
On the first evacuation on Feb 4, the government brought back 107 Malaysians from Hubei.
National Disaster Management Agency senior deputy director Farhan Sufyan Borhan said the agency had no plans to launch a third mission.
“There has been no need for it or request from any party to carry out the mission.”