KUALA LUMPUR: Eighty one Malaysians evacuated from Italy have safely arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 10am today, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said.
In a statement, he said the group include 34 students and eight officers working at the Malaysian Embassies in Rome and the Holy See as well as their family members.
Kamarudin said the 81 Malaysians were brought home via AirAsia’s special flight which also carried 17 flight crews.
Also in the flight were seven civil servants, including a Foreign Ministry officer, one staff from the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) and five Health Ministry officers.
“As they arrived in Malaysia, they will have to observe self-quarantine at the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) for 14 days as determined by the Health Ministry.
“This repatriation mission was done following cooperation of the Foreign Ministry, Nadma, Health Ministry, Malaysian Embassies in Rome and the Holy See as well as other relevant agencies,” he said.
Italy has been under lockdown for the past two weeks as its Covid-19 positive cases and deaths have been increasing dramatically in the country.
Yesterday, it was reported that more than 680 people have died from coronavirus in Italy in the last 24 hours.
Italy has seen more fatalities than any other country, with the latest figures showing that 7,503 people have died from the infection in barely a month.