This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 13, 2020 - March 19, 2020

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will decide whether to delay or cancel the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit it is scheduled to host in November, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof  (pic) said the matter will be brought to the Cabinet for further discussion.

Mohd Redzuan said this is in line with the government’s new directive to ban public gatherings of over 250 in Malaysia, including international events.

“Such gatherings with huge crowds including scheduled international events in Malaysia will be banned. However, for Apec, we haven’t decided whether to delay or cancel it,” he told a press conference yesterday after chairing a meeting of the Technical Working Committee for the Covid-19 Cluster.

Asked whether the ban on gatherings will apply to wedding receptions with crowds exceeding 250 people, Mohd Redzuan said the order remains, but advised the public to exercise caution when holding such events.

The government has also come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the prevention of Covid-19 in all types of schools registered under the education ministry.

Mohd Redzuan said the SOP entails steps to be taken by school administrations in preventing the spread of the deadly virus, including how to handle individuals who have returned from high-risk countries.

“All schools are advised to refer to the health ministry’s website for the latest on the pandemic situation in Malaysia, including the list of countries deemed high-risk,” he added.

Meanwhile, the government has imposed a travel ban on Denmark effective tomorrow, following the country’s lockdown order announced on Wednesday.

Mohd Redzuan said the government is making the necessary arrangements with the Danish embassy on the matter.

“Denmark citizens and foreigners coming from that country will be banned from entering Malaysia, including transits,” he said.

Those who are returning from the country, including permanent residents and long-term social visit pass holders, will be ordered to be home quarantined for 14 days,” he added.

Denmark is the sixth country added into Malaysia’s travel ban list, amid spiralling cases of the virus infection around the world. Other countries on the list are China, Japan, Italy, South Korea and Iran.

In the case of China and Japan, the government has specifically prohibited entry to travellers from the following parts of these countries — Hubei, Zhejiang and Jiangsu (China), and Hokkaido (Japan).