CORONAVIRUS | Covid-19 has taken the lives of at least 10 Malaysians in New York, according to the Malaysian Association of America (MAA).

English daily The Star reported MAA president Kim Bong as confirming the deaths, saying that two of them were committee members of the association.

"One was a restaurant owner, while the other was infected at the subway. This is a setback," he told the daily.

He added that at least 30 Malaysians were infected with the coronavirus in New York.

MAA, he said, had helped by arranging funeral services for the Malaysians.

However, MAA co-chairperson Jack Liaw said, the association members could not attend the funerals to pay their last respects.

“Due to the lockdown, we could not attend their funerals to pay our last respects.

“It is sad that they lost their lives in a foreign land far from home.

“The situation is such that even getting a funeral service is very difficult, due to the staggering number of Covid-19 deaths in New York, ” Liaw said.

New York has recorded about 23,282 deaths due to Covid-19, while the United States had 102,000 death cases overall, with 1.73 million confirmed cases.

No official information

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri said in his daily press briefing today that the government did not receive any official information about the deaths of the 10 individuals in New York.

“We checked with Wisma Putra, they did not get any information about this, so we do not know the status, whether the news is true or not,” he said.

Wisma Putra is currently investigating this matter, he added.

He also reminded Malaysian citizens abroad that if they run into any trouble, they should contact the nearest Malaysian embassy or consulate for assistance.

“Like this situation, it must be because the Malaysian consulate (in New York) does not know, because the Foreign Ministry still does not have any official information about this,” he said.

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