Malaysia Bans Citizens of U.S., U.K. and Other Hotspots as Virus Cases Rise
Malaysia Bans Citizens of U.S., U.K. and Other Hotspots as Virus Cases Rise
(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia banned the citizens of more countries from entry as the number of its coronavirus cases rose by the most since June.
The ban, effective Monday, applies to citizens of countries that have more than 150,000 coronavirus cases, including the U.S., the U.K. and Russia, even if they hold long-term passes. That’s an expansion of an earlier restriction against India, Indonesia and the Philippines. All foreign tourists have been banned from entry since March.
Malaysia reported 100 new cases on Tuesday, of which 85 were local transmissions, according to the health ministry. That followed 62 new cases confirmed on Monday, which was already the highest increase since June 4. While the country has already extended measures to curb the pandemic until the end of the year, a resurgence in new cases could pressure the government into bringing back more stringent restrictions that had battered the economy earlier this year.
Many of the new infections could be traced back to a cluster that started from two people who entered the country illegally into the Borneo state of Sabah. The people were then detained in cramped lock-ups, where the virus spread to other detainees and officers.
The expanded ban also applies to citizens of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Iran, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, France, Turkey, Italy, Germany and Iraq.
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