KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) has come under fire after its event at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur went ahead this weekend.

The Malaysia Travel Fair 2020 was held at PWTC from March 13-15 despite warnings about the potential spread of Covid-19 in large crowds.

Further, many sporting events have been called off, postponed or played behind closed doors while government activities have been suspended until April pending the containment of the outbreak which has affected 428 people in Malaysia to date.

On Motac’s official Twitter page pictures and captions were shared of the event which was inaugurated by deputy secretary-general of Motac, Mohd Zamri Mat Zain.

The response that’s received the most "Likes” is from Twitter user @sueannajoe_ who said: "More like Malaysia Coronavirus Fair”.

Another Twitter user @badrulhisyam92 said: "Can you not do something so stupid? People are staying at home not going out for mass gatherings,’ which has chalked up 60 likes and 12 retweets at the time of writing.

Another angry user named @4mat3ra5u said: "The country’s doomed when a few smart alecs try to act smart and run the country.

"Multiple warnings and precautions have been given but these people are still stubborn enough to organise mass gatherings because all they are thinking off is how each of them can profit from this.

"I hope the health sector has a plan ready, as they will soon be conducting (Covid-19) screenings on a mega scale after this.”.

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, Malaysia has restricted travel to and from affected countries heavily like South Korea, Iran, Italy and China, among others, while ships carrying foreigners aren’t allowed to dock in Malaysia except for supplies.