COVID-19: Government to bring back Malaysians in Iran, Italy

The government is working on bringing home Malaysians in Iran and Italy which have been severely hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said tonight.

The prime minister said 65 Malaysians in Iran and 323 in Italy will be brought back in these humanitarian missions.

“The government is most concerned about the fate of Malaysians in the countries severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, such as China, Iran, Italy and South Korea,” he said in a special address broadcast live over television networks.

For the record, the government has so far brought back Malaysians from the Hubei province of China in two batches on Feb 4 and 26. Up to 107 of them were brought back in the first batch and 66 in the second. Wuhan City in Hubei was where the outbreak first occurred.

Muhyiddin also said that the government will maintain the restriction on travel to the three provinces of Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China; Hokkaido in Japan as well as Iran, Italy and South Korea.

As such, the prime minister advised Malaysians to refrain from travel to countries affected by COVID-19.

Muhyiddin also said that cruise vessels will be allowed to dock in the country only to take on supplies.

“Only the Malaysian crew will be allowed to disembark, and they will be required to undergo a health screening,” he said.

Last Wednesday, the maiden Cabinet meeting of the new Perikatan Nasional government decided that Malaysia restrict entry into the country of nationals from Iran, Italy and South Korea with effect from today, March 13.