Reuters reported that Malaysia has barred the return of 13 managerial staff with ECRL – part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative – after they returned to Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak, for the Chinese New Year holidays.

Bai Yinzhan, managing director of contractor CCC-ECRL, the Malaysian unit of China Communications Construction, said the affected staff would work out of their homes in Wuhan, the provincial capital, during the temporary ban.

“They can work from home,” Reuters quoted Bai as telling a news briefing.

“There has not been a major impact on the work. We can use network video platforms to continue communicating.”

According to the report, Darwis Abdul Razak, chief executive of project owner Malaysia Rail Link, said nearly 200 Chinese staff, who also went back for the annual holiday, are now back at work following 14 days of self quarantine at base camps in Malaysia.

Darwis said officials do not expect the outbreak to delay construction of the 640km rail project, nor do they see delays in loan drawdowns from China Export-Import Bank (China Exim), which is lending 85% of the total project cost.

“As far as fund disbursement is concerned, everything is progressing well,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

“We did not get any indication from (China Exim) that they are going to stop everything.”

China and Malaysia resumed construction of the rail project in July last year after a year-long suspension and a deal to pare down its cost by about a third from nearly US$17 billion initially.