BENTONG (Bernama): The government has agreed to bring back certain home-based staff of Wisma Putra and other government agencies located in China, along with their wives and dependents, following the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) there. Besides the embassy office in Beijing, Saifudin said Malaysia also had consulates in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kunming, Nanning, Shanghai and Xi'an, other than Taipei, with a total 34 Wisma Putra officials and 77 dependents. Meanwhile, the number of government agency officers in China such as the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and Tourism Malaysia stood at 52 people with 135 dependents. "For couples and children, we intend to bring them home as soon as possible. Asked if there were any plans to bring back Malaysians from other parts of China, Saifuddin said the matter would be discussed later due to the large number (more than 30,000 people), including those who now could not move freely.

Source: The Star February 05, 2020 14:37 UTC