PUTRAJAYA has no plans to prevent Chinese nationals from entering the country after three people from Wuhan staying in Johor Baru tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

According to the prime minister, the authorities have ramped up checks at entry points nationwide and are screening every visitor coming into Malaysia.

“We have no plans to block them and we will examine visitors that are coming in.

“We are able to detect them at the early stages and we have proof that they suffer from the virus,” Dr Mahathir told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Chinese New Year open house today.

Speaking later at another open house, Dr Mahathir said the government would not be revising its visa-free programme for China visitors as a possible method to contain the virus.

He said such a move would also affect the visa exemption given by China to Malaysian visitors.

“However, we have to be vigilant in monitoring tourists from China in order to contain its spread,” he said.

Earlier today, Health Minister, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad confirmed three people have contracted the virus originating from Wuhan, China.

Dzulkefly said the victims are three Chinese nationals from Wuhan, who entered the country through Johor Baru, and are currently being treated at Sungai Buloh Hospital, where they are in a stable condition.

“They were reported to have boarded a flight from Guangzhou to Singapore on January 20. Early screenings did not return any sign of fever and they did not have any symptoms of infection.

“Subsequent clinical samples were taken among these contacts for detection tests and further 2019-nCoV tests at the National Public Health Laboratory in Sungai Buloh, and the cases were confirmed last night,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said all three victims at Sungai Buloh Hospital will receive full medical treatment.

“They will be quarantined and we will observe them. We do not want it to be more serious,” he said.

Wuhan is situated in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV, or 2019 Novel Coronavirus, which has claimed at least 41 lives and spread to other countries, including Singapore, Japan, the US, France and Australia.

The virus has infected at least 1,300 people in China alone and Wuhan has been quarantined by Beijing in a bid to limit the spread of the virus.

Health experts said some human-to-human transmission has been recorded, while Dzulkefly said the three people in Sungai Buloh Hospital are close relatives of a 66-year old Chinese national in Singapore, confirmed to have contracted the virus. – January 25, 2020.