PUTRAJAYA: The federal government has no plans as yet to suspend all flights from China to Malaysia in the wake of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak there, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“There is no need for that now (suspending flight arrivals from China). We did a study whether to stop all flights (from China) or just from Wuhan and Hubei province,” he told the media after attending a gathering with strategic partners of the Rural Development Ministry at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here today.
Malaysia has ordered a temporary suspension of incoming flights from Wuhan and Hubei province until the situation returns to normal.
The Sabah state government today announced that it is temporarily suspending with immediate effect all flight arrivals from China due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Sabah is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists.
Asked about the government’s efforts to bring home Malaysians stranded in Wuhan, the ‘epicentre ”of the outbreak, Dr Mahathir said there has yet to be a response from China.
“We just started talking to them, haven’t got a response yet,” he said.
According to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, there are 96 Malaysians still in Wuhan, which is under lockdown by the Chinese authorities due to the outbreak, which has at the latest count left at least 170 people dead and more than 7,700 others infected in mainland China.
— BERNAMA
