The government is making preparations to evacuate 323 Malaysians who are currently stranded in Italy. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a special address on Covid-19, said the government was also planning to bring home 65 Malaysians in Iran who are severely affected by the outbreak.

“We are concerned with the fate of Malaysians in countries which are incapacitated by Covid-19 outbreak such as China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.

Until today, the government has brought back a total of 107 Malaysian from some of the affected countries,” he said in the special live telecast aired on RTM, TV3, Bernama and Asto Awani.

Muhyiddin earlier chaired a special meeting on Covid-19 at the Prime Minister’s Office here.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said the Malaysian tourism industry suffered losses amounting to RM3.37 billion due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which led to the cancellation of tour packages and affected the livelihood of those working in the aviation and hotel industries.

“From the economics perspective, the sectors worst-hit by this disease are tourism, small and medium enterprises and the transport industries.

“The loss is estimated to be RM3.37 billion for the tourism sector from January to February, this year,” he said.

The government, he added, also estimated Malaysia’s gross domestic product to have decreased between 0.8 percent and 1.2 percent, or a decline by RM10.8 billion to RM17.3 billion.

“I am aware of the urgency to come up with measures to cushion the impact of this outbreak on the country's economy, especially on the people.

“Therefore, the government will ensure that the economic stimulus package that has been announced will be carried out effectively to ensure it reaches all of you (the people),” he added.