Coronavirus: Malaysia turns away Chinese tourists

Malaysian government stops issuing entrance visas to visitors from Wuhan City and the surrounding province of Hubei.

Malaysia.- The Malaysian government has decided to ban the entrance of all visitors from the Chinese city of Wuhan and its surrounding Hubei province in a bid to prevent further spread of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s office said authorities will temporarily stop issuing visas for Chinese citizens from the Wuhan and Hubei areas with immediate effect.

“The government has decided to suspend temporarily all immigration facilities … to all China nationals from Wuhan city and the surrounding Hubei province,” it said. 

Malaysia has reported four confirmed cases of the virus which started in the central-Chinese city and has since spread worldwide.

All four victims, including two children, are in stable condition. They are tourists from Wuhan who entered Malaysia for a holiday via neighbouring Singapore.

The virus, similar to the SARS pathogen, has claimed at least 81 lives so far — all of them in China.

Malaysia welcomed 2.94 million visitors from China last year and is aiming to raise the number to 3.48 million this year.

The prime minister’s office said the ban will be lifted when the situation returns to normal.

Meanwhile, a campaign by Malaysians on petition website change.org urging the government to ban Chinese nationals from entering the country has attracted more than 383,000 signatures as of Monday evening.

“The government should think more of the health of Malaysians,” the petition said.

“Don’t wait until there is death among Malaysian people then only the government wants to take some preventive action.”