Visas for Chinese citizens from Wuhan and affected areas around the Hubei province will no longer be allowed in Malaysia as the government has called for immigration facilities to stop clearance for these visas with immediate effect.
Source: Malay Mail
Following reports from the Star, the Prime Minister’s Office said the firm decision to suspend issuing Chinese nationals their visas was taken as a step to contain the viral outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV), more commonly known as the Wuhan virus.
The Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying:
“The Malaysian government has followed World Health Organisation (WHO) procedures and got the advice of experts to face and handle the spread of this virus.”
The statement said that authorities were doing their best to prevent transmission by taking active measures to monitor the virus frequently. One such measure is the suspension of immigration facilities:
Source: Malay Mail
“With the latest information, the government has decided to temporarily suspend all immigration facilities including- eNTRY (a facility without visa), Visa On Arrival (VOA), e-visa and manual visas to all China nationals from the infected city of Wuhan and other affected areas in Hubei.”
However, the Office assured the public that, “immigration facilities will be reinstated when the situation returns to normal.”
Wisma Putra will be partnering up with the Chinese government to ensure the execution of this decision with efficiency and ease.
Meanwhile, the government emphasised that the public should stop spreading fake news about the disease as to not cause any unnecessary panic.
Source: The Star
Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, the Foreign Minister, has also announced that he has been in contact with Malaysian embassy officials in Beijing as well as the Consulate-General Offices in various cities in China to attend to Malaysians in China who are in danger of being exposed to the virus.
Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction for the health and safety of all Malaysian citizens.
Also read: PM: No Plans To Ban Tourists From China Despite Wuhan Coronavirus Cases
