China coronavirus: Hong Kong’s pro-establishment party DAB backs proposal to temporarily close border checkpoints with mainland China to control outbreak
- DAB leader Starry Lee says ‘special circumstances require special measures’, while Chinese University medical experts also call for more steps to prevent outbreak
- Party also urges government to disclose how many visitors from Hubei have entered into Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s largest pro-establishment party has backed the opposition camp’s proposal to temporarily close the city’s border checkpoints with mainland China to stop the Wuhan coronavirus from spreading in the city, adding pressure on the government to impose a tougher immigration policy.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said on Tuesday they had asked city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in a meeting to consider tougher measures to restrict travellers from regions with virus outbreak from entering Hong Kong.
The medical faculty of Chinese University also called for tougher restrictions to be imposed at the city’s borders, after eight cases of the viral infection were confirmed in Hong Kong by Monday.
The school has joined fellow academics from the University of Hong Kong to call for “more steps” to broaden the scope for a border closure, with the latter predicting the nationwide outbreak would reach its peak between late April and early May.
“We told the government they cannot rule out the idea of closing the border, as we need to isolate or even ban those coming from regions stricken with the viral outbreak from entering the city,” party lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan said.