KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Malaysian Ambassador to China Raja Datuk Nushirwan Zainal Abidin said the embassy will continue to monitor Malaysians who are still in Wuhan, China, in the wake of the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus in the country.
Nushirwan said of 34 Malaysians who could not participate in the mission to return to Malaysia, some have been identified as having logistics problems, while others opted to stay put.
“For those who opt to stay put, it is their choice, and we will continue to monitor their situation via WeChat application and thus far they are all in good condition,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
He said the temporary secretariat established in Wuhan had been closed and that the advance team members had returned to the embassy to prevent them from being exposed to the situation in Hubei province.
In the meantime, he said, the embassy was still in the process of tracking down Malaysian citizens in China by encouraging them to register at the Malaysian consulate offices in the country.
He said the embassy was also in the process of seeking an effective mechanism to continue monitoring Malaysians, especially in areas severely affected by the outbreak.
In the meantime, he expressed his gratitude for the successful mission to bring 133 Malaysians from Wuhan to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) early this morning.
“The process went smoothly with good cooperation between the two governments. Telephone conversation between our foreign minister (Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah) and his counterpart from China on Saturday have helped to make this mission a success,” he said.
The special AirAsia aircraft used in the mission to bring 133 Malaysians from Wuhan landed safely at KLIA at 5.57am.
AirAsia aircraft, a part of the Malaysian government’s Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission, brought home 107 people from Hubei province, comprising 88 Malaysians and 19 non-citizens who are their spouses and children.
Also on board of the special flight departing from Tianhe International Airport, Wuhan, were six officials from the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, eight mission personnel and 12 flight crew members.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, in a statement, said of the 107 who had been brought home from Wuhan, two did not pass the health screening and were sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).
Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad in a press conference today confirmed that a 41-year-old man as the first Malaysian tested positive for coronavirus.
At the same press conference, Dzulkefly also confirmed a new positive case involving a Chinese national, bringing the total number of positive cases in the country to 10. — Bernama
