DAVAO CITY — The Malaysian government will not allow citizens from Philippines, Indonesia, and India to enter their soil starting September 7.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin earlier said Malaysia imposed the entry ban to curb the pandemic until the end of the year as the virus “is still actively spreading across the world”.
Philippines having the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia with some 226,440, followed by Indonesia with a total of 180,646 cases as of September 2, the Malaysian government’s declaration is well taken and respected said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday.
Roque said it is the “sovereign decision” of Malaysia to determine who is allowed to enter the country.
“I’m not saying we’re happy. We regret the decision but we respect the sovereign decision of Malaysia,” he said in a virtual Palace briefing.
As of September 2, the total cases in Southeast Asia crossed the 479,000 mark.
India has nearly four million cases, the third highest in the world after the United States and Brazil.
Covid-19 cases in the world surpassed 26 million on Wednesday.-Newsline.ph
