Malaysia reports eighth China coronavirus case, turned away 14 travellers from Wuhan this week

The passengers were barred from entering Malaysia on Tuesday and sent back to China

Citizens of the Southeast Asian nation have also been warned against spreading fake news, with action having been taken in eight cases so far

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A woman adjusts a face mask on her child at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia banned visitors from the Chinese city of Wuhan and its surrounding Hubei province on January 27 in a bid to contain the spread of a deadly virus. Photo: AFP

SCMP’s Asia desk,The StarandTashny Sukumaran

Published: 2:49pm, 30 Jan 2020Updated: 3:53pm, 19 Mar 2020

Malaysia on Thursday confirmed one more case of the novel coronavirus, bringing its total number to eight. All those infected are Chinese nationals, according to health director general Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The eighth case is a 49-year-old woman who has been admitted to an isolation ward at Permai Hospital in the southern state of Johor, and is reported to be in stable condition, Noor Hisham said in a statement.

She is the wife of the seventh case, who was reported in the state on Wednesday. Malaysia on Wednesday also confirmed two other cases: a four-year-old girl, and the mother of two children confirmed infected earlier.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told reporters on Thursday that China has yet to respond to the government’s requests to evacuate its citizens located in Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the virus which has been on lockdown for a week now. On Wednesday, Malaysia said it would evacuate about 80 Malaysians from the affected area, and were prepared to supply the city with food, gloves and masks if an aircraft was allowed to enter.

Meanwhile, 14 passengers from Wuhan were turned away from Malaysia earlier this week, according to home minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“I have been informed that on Tuesday, 14 passengers from Wuhan had landed at the KL International Airport. They were then barred from entering and have been sent back, ” he told a press conference on Thursday.