2ND WUHAN RESCUE MISSION ON FEB 25
75 M’sians and kin stranded there will be brought home via AirAsia flight on Tuesday, says DPM
THE government is coordinating efforts to bring home another 75 Malaysians and their families stranded in Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said they were scheduled to be brought home via a commercial flight on Tuesday.
She said the second Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief mission to Wuhan would be managed in the same way as the first.
She said evacuees would undergo health screening and be quarantined for 14 days upon their return.
“The Foreign Ministry and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) together with AirAsia are planning to bring home 75 Malaysians and their families from Wuhan. The flight is on Tuesday.
“Upon arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, all passengers and crew will undergo health screening at the Air Disaster Unit before being taken to the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) (in Bandar Enstek) to be quarantined.”
Dr Wan Azizah, who is Nadma chairman, was speaking after chairing Nadma’s high-level committee special meeting on the Covid-19 outbreak at the Prime Minister’s Department here yesterday.
She said there were, however, several obstacles to the mission.
“They (Malaysians) might not be based in Wuhan. The Wuhan Tianhe International Airport is quite far from the city. Thus, transportation could be an issue.
“But the rest of them are prepared to return to Malaysia. This is the second humanitarian mission to bring Malaysians home. We are unsure if there will be a third mission. This might be the last one.”
There are 77,000 Malaysians in China. On Feb 4, 107 Malaysians were flown home from Wuhan and they were taken to AKEPT to be quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to return home on Feb 18.
On plans to ban travellers from China from entering Malaysia due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Dr Wan Azizah said there was no need for a total ban on Chinese nationals.
She said ensuring all travellers, especially those from China, undergo mandatory health screening at the country’s entry points remained a top priority.
She said stringent checks would be conducted, which included thermal screening and swab tests.
“The issue (whether to ban all Chinese nationals) has been discussed (at the cabinet meeting). However, at the meeting today (yesterday), we see there is no need for it. But we have to boost health screening.
“Malaysians, as well as those returning from China or who have been to China in the last 14 days, will have to undergo health screening.
“If they show no symptoms or test negative for the virus, they will be allowed to return home. However, they must undergo the Home Surveillance programme as per the Health Ministry’s guidelines.
“Those who have tested positive will be sent to hospital for treatment,” she said, adding that test results for the virus could be obtained in five hours.
She said Malaysia remained in the early containment phase of the virus, with no widespread human-to-human transmissions or sporadic cases and no deaths.
On sporadic and human-to-human transmissions in Singapore, Dr Wan Azizah said Malaysia had no plans to ban travellers from the republic.
However, she said, checks at the Malaysia-Singapore border would be strengthened.
“We will tighten measures at entry and exit points along the Johor border, and at Senai airport. Travellers will have their temperature taken and if they show symptoms, swabs will be taken.
“The Health Ministry will discuss monitoring and border control methods at the Bilateral Joint-Working Group Committee forum with the Singapore government on Tuesday.”
Following the demand for more thermal scanners at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in Johor, 26 of the equipment have been added, bringing the total number of thermal scanners at all entry points in the country to 80.
Dr Wan Azizah said there were no new cases of Covid-19 in Malaysia, keeping the number of
cases to 22.
Seventeen of the patients have recovered and five others are receiving treatment.
Of the five, three of them are at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, one at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Kedah, and one at Sungai Buloh
Hospital.
Dr Wan Azizah said the country’s 22nd Covid-19 case involved an 83-year-old American woman.
She said the senior citizen was unwell, even though the latest two tests conducted on her showed negative results for the virus.
“She will be treated until she shows no symptoms.”
The woman was among a group of 145 passengers of a cruise ship who flew to Malaysia when their vessel docked in Cambodia on Feb 13.