Combo pictures showing the arrival of Malaysians from Wuhan yesterday.

SEPANG: Malaysian authorities said they have taken all necessary precautionary measures in receiving Malaysians from coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China at the KL International Airport (KLIA) yesterday morning.

The homebound entourage touched down at 5.57am on an AirAsia flight, comprising 88 Malaysians and 19 non-citizen passengers who are their spouses and children, all from Wuhan. Of these, two failed the health screening and have been hospitalised.

A total of 133, comprising passengers, crew and officials onboard were met by, among others, a Hazardous Material (Hazmat) team and Health Ministry personnel on the tarmac before being taken a short distance away by bus to the Air Disaster Unit (ADU) at KLIA where decontamination procedures and health screening processes were carried out.

Mindful of the danger posed by the virus, which has reportedly killed some 425 in China, the government laid out stringent procedures for the group arriving from Wuhan’s Tianhe International Airport to eliminate any risk of infecting others or spreading the virus.

The plane was parked at a designated area not far from the ADU. Disembarkation was followed immediately by health screening after which two Fire and Rescue Department buses left the ADU with police escort, to a monitoring facility called the Home Surveillance Centre. Those ferried there will undergo a 14-day quarantine.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said in a statement that all those from Wuhan were allowed to board the plane after undergoing health screening conducted by the Chinese government. – Bernama