PUTRAJAYA, March 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry or Wisma Putra has identified 11 Malaysians overseas who have been infected by COVID-19 so far.
Newly-minted Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said nine out of the 11 cases are in Singapore. Two of them have been discharged while the rest are still receiving treatment.
“The other two were in Japan and they have already returned to Malaysia. However, the numbers will be verified with other ministries so that there will be no discrepancies with what is being announced,” he said in a press conference here today.
Hishammuddin said a total of 54,430 Malaysians in 10 countries most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak have registered with Malaysian diplomatic missions there.
Of the total, 14,929 Malaysians are in China, South Korea (4,297), Italy (380), Iran (67), Japan (6,019), France (2,401), Germany (2,218), Spain (150), Switzerland (790) and the highest – the United States with 23,179 Malaysians registering.
He said the number did not include 841 civil servants and their families based in the 10 countries.
Hishammuddin said he has also directed his deputy Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar to lead a task force to monitor the situation of Malaysians overseas.
“The task force’s report will be shared directly with the public at times,” he said.
Hishammuddin said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be briefed today on the next measures taken by the ministry.
“The coordination has two aspects which I stress on, first is coordination between ministers and ministries in the country and secondly, coordination to find best practices among countries out there who are also badly affected by COVID-19.
“I have been receiving calls from foreign ministers and if we can get to coordinate at Wisma Putra level with those countries involved, and share best practices, I think we have a better chance of combating this virus,” he said.
— NNN-BERNAMA
