COVID-19: Pakistan among 23 countries banned by Malaysia

Malaysia announced on Monday that it was restricting the entry of people from 23 countries, including Pakistan to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Malaysia’s immigration department announced on social media that it was restricting the entry of "Long Term Visit Pass Holders" from the 23 countries as they had reported over 150,000 COVID-19 cases.

Apart from Pakistan, the other countries included in the ban are India, USA, Brazil, Russia, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Iran, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, France, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Iraq, Philippines and Indonesia.

Sharpest spike in 3 months

The country’s health authorities reported 62 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the sharpest spike since early June, just as the government began barring long-term immigration pass holders from countries with high infection numbers.

Of the total new cases reported, 50 were detected in an existing cluster in Sabah state on Malaysian Borneo, stemming from the detention of two undocumented migrants two weeks earlier, the health ministry said.

The others were detected in a new cluster in the northern state of Kedah and six arrivals from Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt, the ministry said in a statement.

Monday's new infections were the largest since June 4, when 277 cases and one death were reported.

Malaysia has so far avoided the kind of contagion seen in neighbors the Philippines and Indonesia, which have 238,727 and 196,989 cases respectively. Indonesia death toll of 8,130 is the region's highest.

Malaysia currently has 9,459 confirmed coronavirus infections, of which 128 led to deaths.