Coronavirus: no more Westerdam cruise ship passengers allowed into Malaysia, after US woman tests positive
- Further flights booked to transport the cruise passengers via Kuala Lumpur have been axed, after a woman from the first flight tested positive
- Malaysia will also bar any cruise ship that has departed from or transited China to enter Malaysia, the deputy prime minister says
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said everyone on the ship was considered to have been in close contact with the 83-year-old American woman and considered a risk.
It was not a false positive.
Wan Azizah, chair of the Disaster Management Centre Committee, said Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights had been chartered to transport some of the Westerdam’s passengers from Sihanoukville to various destinations via Kuala Lumpur, but since the report of the woman’s infection, the flights would no longer continue.
“MAS planned four chartered flights to bring passengers to land in KLIA from Friday to Sunday, but since a case was detected, MAS has decided to cancel the other chartered flights,” she said at a press conference on Sunday.
The Malaysian health ministry said it did not have the number of those who were left behind. A total of 2,257 passengers and crew were on board the Westerdam.
