Coronavirus: Hong Kong issues ‘red’ travel alert on the United States, Britain and Ireland and imposes quarantine measures on arrivals from the three countries and Egypt
- Compulsory home quarantine will apply to people who have been to any of the three countries, or Egypt, in the previous 14 days
- The city on Sunday records seven more confirmed cases, bringing total tally to 148
Hong Kong has issued a red travel alert on the United States, Britain and Ireland and will impose a 14-day quarantine period on all arrivals from the three countries and Egypt from Thursday in a bid to halt the number of imported Covid-19 infections.
Compulsory home quarantine would apply to everyone, including Hong Kong residents, arriving in the city from March 19 who had been to any of the four countries in the previous 14 days, the government announced on Sunday night.
The red alert is the second level of a three-tier system and warns of a “significant threat” at the destination involved.
The Department of Health said earlier on Sunday that in the past two weeks 26 of 46 confirmed coronavirus cases were imported, while seven others involved patients who had visited places outside Hong Kong during the incubation period.
The Centre for Health Protection would adjust policies against the epidemic by taking into account the risk in different countries, the department said.
“As the capacity of quarantine facilities in Hong Kong is limited at the moment, the government has decided that quarantine centres need to be reserved for close contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19,” it said.