CORONAVIRUS | The Sarawak government has introduced a ban on foreigners arriving with a history of travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy and Iran in the past 14 days in its latest bid to protect against the Covid-19 outbreak.

Meanwhile, non-Sarawak resident Malaysians who have been to those locations in that time frame are advised not to visit the state.

“All Sarawakians and Sarawakian PR (permanent residents), work and student pass holders (who have been to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy and Iran)... in the last 14 days must undergo compulsory home quarantine for 14 days.

“They will be subjected to random monitoring by the medical authority,” Sarawak disaster management committee secretariat said in a statement.

Meanwhile, it added that other visitors from countries affected by the Covid-19 such as Singapore and Japan are advised to adhere to state precautionary guidelines available at all point of entry.

China is the epicentre of the outbreak, and the worse hit with majority of those infected and died from the disease are from there. However, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan have seen a rise in cases. WHO reported that 81 percent of reported cases outside of China stems from those four countries. 

To date, there are over 92,700 infected cases and 3,200 deaths globally. Of these, mainland China reported 80,270 cases and 2,981 deaths, South Korea reported 5,328 infected cases and 32 deaths, Iran (2,336 and 77) and Italy (2,263 and 79) respectively. Japan, meanwhile, has recorded 294 cases and six deaths.  

Meanwhile, over 50,700 people have reportedly recovered globally.

Malaysia, meanwhile, has recorded 36 cases, of which 22 have since recovered.