Malaysian Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in a press conference broadcast live. Photo: BETWEEN / Twitter Ismail Sabri
jpnn.com, PUTRA JAYA – Malaysia added at least nine more countries, including the United States, Britain and France, to its list of holders of long-term immigration permits prohibited from entering the country.
Earlier on Tuesday (1/9), the Malaysian government announced it would ban entry permit holders from India, Indonesia and the Philippines starting September 7, 2020 in an effort to reduce coronavirus cases from abroad in Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy.
According to senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the ban will now cover all countries that have reported more than 150,000 cases of corona virus.
Malaysia, which reported only 9,374 cases of COVID-19 and 128 deaths as of Thursday, has banned tourists and businessmen from entering the country since March, when it imposed strict restrictions on movement and trade to contain the spread of the virus.
The move to further tighten entry restrictions follows the discovery of a new cluster triggered by infections among Malaysians returning from abroad and undocumented migrants.
The expanded list also includes Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Bangladesh.
“We will add more (countries) that are considered high risk,” said Ismail Sabri as quoted by Bernama, Thursday (3/9).
Ismail Sabri previously said the ban would cover permanent residents, expatriates, students and those on spouse visas and participants of the “Malaysia My Second Home” program. (ant / dil / jpnn)
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