Coronavirus: Hong Kong urged to get tough on travel controls for arrivals from worse-hit countries
- Experts accuse government of acting too slowly and call for more restrictions on people arriving from hard-hit countries such as France and Spain
- Driver of a patient is latest local case of infection, bringing city’s tally on Monday night to 115
Should Hong Kong follow mainland China and Macau to start imposing travel restrictions and quarantine rules on arrivals from countries that have been worse hit than the city by the coronavirus epidemic?
The debate has intensified with leading health advisers to the government advocating tougher measures on Monday for people coming from countries such as Italy and India, although the administration remained vague as to whether it would make such a move.
Executive Council member Dr Lam Ching-choi, a cabinet-level adviser, raised the issue a day after Macau announced it would impose a 14-day quarantine from Tuesday on travellers who had been to Germany, France, Spain or Japan.
Germany and France have each recorded more than 1,100 infections, Spain 999, and Japan at least 1,000, including cases from the Diamond Princess cruise liner, while Hong Kong has confirmed 115 so far.
On Monday the city reported one more case of Covid-19 – a 44-year-old man who works as a driver for a previously confirmed patient.
A pet dog belonging to another patient diagnosed on Sunday was also sent to a quarantine facility for testing, after another dog last week was found to have a low-level infection.