KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Several major events nation-wide have been either postponed or cancelled due to the Covid-19 infection.

They include the Pahang Investment Forum and Festival (FPFP 2020) by the Pahang government scheduled to be held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here next month.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the decision was made to contain the spread of the virus and for the health sake of participants and others that would be involved in the forum.

"We do not want to take the risk because this forum involves many participants including from overseas and the venue is in the federal capital (Kuala Lumpur). The decision to postpone the programme is made after consulting the Pahang Health Department,” he told reporters in Pahang today.

The forum, scheduled to be opened by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, is aimed to attract investors and promote local products and the state tourism sector.

Meanwhile, in Penang, all state government-organised programmes and activities will be postponed or cancelled to curb the spread of Covid-19, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said in a statement today.

He said the state Secretary had issued a directive yesterday on temporary prohibition for overseas travel by the state civil servants until further notice.

The state government, he said, took note and viewed seriously the current Covid-19 situation in the country, where five of the 39 new cases announced by the Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday involves Penangites.

He said based on information from the Penang Health Department, the cases were detected among the cluster who attended a religious assembly at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling in Kuala Lumpur.

In Selangor, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) called on all departments and agencies under the council, comprising the Mufti Department, Syariah Judicial Department, Islamic Religious Department, Syariah Prosecution Department, to either postpone or cancel programmes involving large crowd due to the Covid-19 infection.

MAIS secretary Dr Ahmad Shahir Makhtar, in a statement, said this was in line with the advice issued by the Health Ministry (MOH) and the Prime Minister’s Department.

He said precautionary measures had been taken by MAIS to contain the spread of the virus by encouraging the public to carry out online transactions through www.mais.gov.my website or online e-wasiat to reduce face-to-face interaction. — Bernama