LANGKAWI: Health authorities here need to expand their surveillance of China tourists to those who had arrived earlier in the country through direct charter flights before a quarantine was enforced due to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
Tourism Langkawi pro-tem president Ahmad Pishol Isahak said they need to liaise with the ground-handling agents and to check if any of the China tourists had symptoms associated with the deadly viral bug.
This would allay the fears that infected tourists could have passed through the initial screening at the international airports but only to develop the influenza-like symptoms later, Pishol told theSun.
He said that since the easing of travel regulations, China nationals are among the most in terms of tourist arrivals in the country, with direct flights to Langkawi, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.
He said chatters on social media over the last few days were about tightening the security and safety measures to ensure that Malaysia is a safe destination despite concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
More than 20 China nationals were reported to have died from complications linked to coronavirus, the majority from Hubei in the Wuhan province.
“The outbreak of any contagious diseases is bound to put a dent to the aspiration to make the Visit Malaysia 2020 as the best ever campaign,“ he said.
Pishol said Malaysians who visited Wuhan recently and, are back for the annual Lunar New Year celebrations should also get themselves checked.
“We must be responsible to put a stop to the rapid spread of the viral bug,“ he added.
