PUTRAJAYA: The government will mobilise a second Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission to bring back Malaysians in Wuhan following the Covid-19 outbreak there, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. 

She said that the Foreign Ministry and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) are planning to bring home about 75 Malaysian citizens and their spouses and children from Wuhan via AirAsia.

“The flight date is scheduled for Feb 25,” she said to the media after chairing Nadma’s high-level committee special meeting on the Covid-19 cluster at the Prime Minister’s Department here, Friday.

Wan Azizah said just like the first mission, upon arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, all passengers and crew would undergo health screening at the Air Disaster Unit (ADU), before being sent to the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) (in Bandar Enstek) for a 14-day monitoring process.

 Wan Azizah said logistics problem is one of the challenges expected to be faced by the mission.

“I was told that the Wuhan airport is quite far from the residential areas. If they do not have transportation, that could be a big problem,” she said.

The first mission saw 107 Malaysians flown home from Wuhan via a special aircraft.

 Meanwhile, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has applauded the Ministry of Health’s effectiveness in handling Covid-19 in the country.

Its president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said the ministry’s quick response in surveillance efforts and infectious disease control as well as providing reports from time to rime on the outbreak in Wuhan, China when the Covid-19 first emerged, had significantly controlled and limited the number of infections in Malaysia to date. 

“While the number of infections has been reduced, it is important for Malaysians to continue to be mindful of infection and consistently practise good personal and respiratory hygiene to reduce infection.

“This must be observed not just in the country but also while travelling abroad,” he said at a press conference on awareness of Covid-19, here. 

Also present were former MOH deputy director-general Datuk Dr Christopher Lee and Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president, Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah. 

Meanwhile, Dr Lee highlighted that Malaysia needed to be prepared for limited unlinked transmission of Covid-19 as faced by its neighbouring countries. 

“Unlike some countries such as Japan and Korea having unlinked transmission cases, all the cases in Malaysia are linked to travellers from outside the country. So, we need to be prepared for such things happening here too,” he said. – Bernama