Expert: No need to place all passengers, flight crew under quarantine

CORONAVIRUS | A Malaysian health expert has said there was no need to quarantine on board passengers and flight crew if any one of them showed symptoms of coronavirus.

This, he said, was because coronavirus was not an airborne-type virus.

"At the moment, we know that it is transmitted through air droplets so we only do contact tracing for passengers seated around the suspected victim," said public health expert Dr Azmi Abdul Rahim.

Contact tracing is the process of identifying the people who have had close contact with those under observation.

Azmi was responding to news reports that an entire Malindo Air flight carrying 31 people, including 16 Malaysians and Bolivians, were placed under quarantine after landing in Tijian, China on Jan 25. The flight embarked from Sabah.

This is after two passengers tested positive for Wuhan virus.

Azmi said the safety methods practised in Malaysia will only be updated if the virus becomes airborne, in which case the entire flight crew and passengers will be placed under quarantine.

Meanwhile, Azmi said thermal scanners at the Johor causeway have been prioritised for China citizens.

He said this was because of the limited number of scanners available and the huge number of people - up to 200,000 - that enter Johor from Singapore each day.

Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, at a separate press conference later, said the government will add more scanners following an increased allocation from the Finance Ministry. -Mkini