KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — No traces of coronavirus have been detected in the country, said Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.

He said 61 of the 267,054 passengers and airline crew members screened at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) from Jan 15 to 20 recorded high body temperature readings, but were not linked to the virus.

"Sixty-one people were found to have high body temperature readings but a second scan found that the passengers, among them Malaysians, Myanmar and Irish nationals, were suffering from common fever,” he said today.

He said that from Jan 15 to 20, thermal scans were conducted on 258,246 passengers and 8,808 crew members from a total of 2,484 aircraft that landed at KLIA.

Speaking to the media after observing the thermal scan process in KLIA following the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, Lee said the rigorous monitoring process was carried out after Chinese health authorities confirmed there was a risk of the virus spreading. 

"We have taken steps to improve screening at all entry points to the country, and to date, no such cases have been detected in the country,” he said.

Lee said anyone who entered the country would undergo a thermal scanning process and if not well or feverish, they would be placed at the KLIA Health Quarantine Centre before being taken to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for further action.

He said individuals who have been to China within the last 14 days and are having fever, cold or pneumonia are advised to visit the nearest health care centre, where health officials have been instructed to be on high alert and take appropriate action to address the situation.

International media reports said that so far, 217 new cases of coronavirus have been detected with four deaths reported. — Bernama