Hong Kong health chief defends decision to issue Zika-related travel alert for Singapore

Ko Wing-man says decision on issuing an alert depends on closeness of contacts with Hong Kong and the speed at which the outbreak appears

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A worker sprays the common area of a housing estate in Singapore as part of the campaign against Zika. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30pm, 3 Sep 2016Updated: 10:48am, 26 Sep 2017

Hong Kong authorities decided to issue a travel alert for Singapore because people from the two cities had frequent dealings with each other, health minister Dr Ko Wing-man said on Saturday.

There were 26 new cases of locally transmitted Zika in the city state, according to local authorities there, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 215.

One day after an amber travel warning for Singapore was issued, Ko defended the Hong Kong government’s decision against questions on why other countries or regions similarly affected by Zika were spared the same response.

An amber alert – the lowest in a three-tier system issued by the Security Bureau – means there are signs of a threat and that travellers should monitor the situation and exercise caution.

Last year, the bureau announced a “red” travel alert for South Korea, the second highest warning urging people to avoid non-essential travel, after the country suffered an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome. The red travel alert remained in place for nearly two months and was lifted in early August after the deadly disease was brought under control.

Health Secretary Ko Wing-man defends the issue of an amber travel alert for Singapore. Photo: Sam Tsang

Ko said Hong Kong’s response level would depend on the situation – the closeness of contacts with Hong Kong and the speed at which the outbreak appeared.