Mers inspections tightened at Hong Kong airport as Leung Chun-ying calls on Seoul to be more forthcoming

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying yesterday urged Seoul to be more forthcoming with information as he announced tightened checks on passengers arriving from South Korea amid the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) outbreak there.

So far, four patients have died from the virus in South Korea, and the number infected reached 41 yesterday.

In another development, Beijing announced it had completed genome sequencing of samples from the South Korean Mers patient in a hospital in Huizhou in Guangdong. It reported that the virus had not mutated.

The sequencing was completed by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with the Guangdong health department.

The current scare started when the South Korean flew from Seoul to Hong Kong and then took a bus to Huizhou, where he was admitted to hospital.

The chief executive said planes flying into Hong Kong from South Korea would be taken to designated gates after touchdown where health inspectors would carry out checks as passengers disembarked.

The procedures were announced as part of a series of tightened checks as Leung visited Chek Lap Kok airport yesterday to inspect health checkpoints with health minister Dr Ko Wing-man.