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Health Ministry and Home Ministry to meet National Disaster Agency following coronavirus outbreak

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said that the ministry will have a meeting with the Home Ministry after the coronavirus outbreak that crippled Wuhan. — Bernama pic
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said that the ministry will have a meeting with the Home Ministry after the coronavirus outbreak that crippled Wuhan. — Bernama pic

KLANG, Jan 26 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Home Ministry (KDN) will be holding a meeting at 4pm today, with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), following the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak that has crippled the Wuhan capital in China, with infected travellers reported in several nations.

In a press conference here at the Klang Hokkien Association here, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said that the ministry would also be increasing equipment to detect temperature from inbound travellers.

“We are having a meeting with KDN to see how we can intensify it further.

“Today there will be a meeting at 4pm. Nadma,” Dzulkefly added

He said that more thermal scanners will also be added to contain the situation and aid border control and health personnel to better manage the situation involving infected travellers.

“We are, in fact, increasing the number of thermal scanners, but as you very well know there are more difficult cases that are asymptomatic, coming without symptoms and only developing it later. So that’s the trickier part of it. Anyhow, we will increase the number of all equipment, our paraphernalia to detect them. We are having a meeting with KDN to see how we can intensify it further,” he added, referring to the Home Ministry.

He said that currently, there are 51 thermal scanners used by his ministry personnel, and the equipment is in great working condition.

Dzulkefly said that he has also received a commitment from Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, to channel more funds when needed, for the purchase of more equipment.

Cases of 2019-nCoV have been confirmed in Japan, South Korean, Thailand, Macau, Singapore, the US, France, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Malaysia yesterday recorded its fourth case of coronavirus, the latest being a 40-year-old man from Wuhan, China, who arrived in Johor Baru on Wednesday via bus from Singapore.

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