PETALING JAYA: The government has halted all immigration facilities including issuing visas for Chinese citizens from Wuhan and the areas around Hubei province with immediate effect.

The Prime Minister's Office said the decision to suspend the issuance of visas to China nationals was made to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV).

“The Malaysian government has followed World Health Organisation (WHO) procedures and got the advice of experts to face and handle the spread of this virus.

“Monitoring is done from time to time, and all authorities are doing their best to prevent transmission.

“With the latest information, the government has decided to suspend temporarily all immigration facilities – eNTRY(facility without visa), Visa On Arrival (VOA), e-visa and manual visas to all China nationals from Wuhan city and the surrounding Hubei province.

“This decision was made taking into account that the development of the infection 2019-nCoV in China, especially in said Hubei province, and this takes effect immediately.

“The immigration facilities will be reinstated when the situation returns to normal, ” the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement Monday (Jan 27).

It also said that Wisma Putra will coordinate with the Chinese government on its decision.

The Prime Minister’s Office also cautioned the public against spreading fake information on the disease so as not to cause further alarm and unrest.

In a statement on Facebook, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said he has been in contact with officials from the Malaysian embassy in Beijing as well as the Consulate-General Offices in various cities of China in the effort to assist Malaysians in China.