KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has advised sports associations (SAs) in the country not to make plans for training or join any competitions in China in the wake of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

If there are Malaysian athletes already in China, OCM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria urged the SAs concerned to decide whether to bring them home and find ways to do it if they want to (bring them back) .

"As for me, the policies we take must be guided based on the direction from the Cabinet and the Health Ministry. Nevertheless, I advise SAs not to make any plans that involve China for now,” he told the media.

As a precautionary measure, the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) has cancelled the 9th Asian Athletics Championship in Hanzhou, China that is scheduled to be held on Feb 12 and 13 due to the outbreak which started in the city of Wuhan.

The Health Ministry has confirmed that four Chinese nationals, who entered Malaysia via Johor from Singapore, were positive for the virus.

Dubbed the Wuhan virus, the media reported that as of yesterday, the outbreak has claimed 80 lives and that more than 2,700 cases have been confirmed in mainland China.

The coronavirus is spreading throughout Asia and the rest of the world with Malaysia recording four cases so far, that is the four Chinese nationals who came via Johor from Singapore. — Bernama