CORONAVIRUS | A total of 147 Chinese nationals from Hubei province, where the novel coronavirus outbreak began, have been denied entry into Malaysia.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who conducted a working visit to the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex in Johor Bahru today, said this is based on data from the last eight days since Jan 27.

The Chinese nationals were denied entry at the following points:

Port Klang - 65
Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (Johor) - 30
Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 - 14
Penang International Airport - 9
Sandakan International Airport - 6
Kota Kinabalu International Airport - 5
Tawau Airport - 5
Tanjung Pelepas Port - 4
Langkawi International Airport - 3
Kota Kinabalu Port - 3
Kuala Lumpur International Airport - 1
Bukit Kayu Hitam - 1
Sipitang - 1

Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, is the capital city of Hubei.

Muhyiddin said the Home Ministry's travel curb is imposed based on the advice of the Health Ministry.

He also addressed criticism over why the government had not imposed a blanket ban on all Chinese citizens from entering Malaysia.

"Even though the World Health Organisation has declared a global emergency, it did not advise a total clampdown on visitors from China.

"At the Immigration Department under the Home Ministry, we act on the decision of the Health Ministry," he said.

He said at present, the travel ban remains only for Chinese nationals originating from Hubei.

He added that the Immigration Department will expand its ban if the Health Ministry deems the situation to have worsened.

However, he said at present, the condition in Malaysia is improving.

"The Health Ministry informed that the number of people under quarantine has gone down," he said.

Malaysia recorded its first four confirmed cases on Jan 25, and three more on Jan 29. The total confirmed case stood at eight as of Jan 30.

Since then, there have been no new confirmed cases in Malaysia.

As of this morning, there were 20,438 recorded cases in China with 420 deaths. There were also 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions.