MIRI: Miri Hospital has announced today that it is restricting visitors to its first floor with immediate effect as a safeguard against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

“In the interest of the public and as precaution for Persons Under Investigation (PUI) for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), the hospital management is restricting visitors on Level 1 with immediate effect.

“Only visitors holding a visitor pass are allowed to enter Level 1 during official visitation hours, while children under 12 are not allowed,” it said in a statement.

Sarawak is still free of the 2019-nCoV although it has had more than fifty cases of PUI as of last Friday.

The state has instituted several measures to prevent an outbreak of the virus, including screening at entry points, refusing entry to foreign nationals who had visited the affected countries and requiring Sarawakians who could have been exposed to the virus overseas to undergo 14-day home quarantine.

As of yesterday, Malaysia has recorded 18 positive cases of the virus, including three who have fully recovered.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told a press conference in Putrajaya yesterday that the latest case involved a 31-year-old Malaysian man who worked in Macau and had returned to Malaysia on Feb 1.