Home minister: 14 visitors from Wuhan turned away at KLIA

CORONAVIRUS | The government had sent back 14 China nationals from Wuhan who arrived at KLIA on Tuesday.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the move was in line with the government's decision to temporarily bar visitors from Wuhan and Hubei province.

"This is a standard operating procedure that is in force to ensure no one slips through any of the country's entry points," he said at a press conference in Bukit Aman today.

Wuhan is believed to be ground zero for the novel coronavirus that has killed 170 people so far. The city and Hubei province have been placed under lockdown by Beijing.

There are eight confirmed cases of coronavirus in Malaysia, all of which involve China nationals.

Eighty-one people, including 41 Malaysians, have tested negative for the virus.

Twenty-seven others who came into close contact with those infected have also tested negative.

Five people, including three Malaysians, are still being tested for the virus.

On a separate matter, Muhyiddin said a police meeting on development management today focused on the force's assets and welfare.

"The police are always ensuring the country's safety so they need more allocations to add assets of which a large amount is old," he said.

"(Allocations are also needed) to look after officers' welfare such as housing, building lifts, new police stations and so on."

He said the police and cabinet are also studying the use of drones to monitor the country's borders, especially in maritime areas. - Mkini