Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong Tightening Entry Controls

Hong Kong SAR Government announces that from March 19, all foreign immigrants must undergo mandatory quarantine or medical observation.

On March 17, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam, said that the SAR government would issue red outbound travel alerts for all countries and regions around the world (except Mainland China, Macau and Taiwan) today.

Starting at 00:00 on the 19th of this month, all people arriving from outside of Hong Kong must undergo 14-day compulsory home quarantine or medical observation; while all quarantine arrangements for mainland arrivals in Hong Kong remain unchanged, they must accept 14-day compulsory home quarantine. It is forbidden to leave Hong Kong.

She told the media the same day before attending the Executive Council that 57 new cases of coronavirus infection had been added to Hong Kong in the past two weeks, of which about 90% were imported cases or close contacts. At present, the focus of Hong Kong's epidemic prevention has changed to preventing overseas importation.

（资料图）

According to the Health Department of the HKSAR Government, people subject to compulsory quarantine must remain in a fixed place for isolation, while those under medical observation can go out, but must wear a mask and report their physical condition daily.

Lam said:

• Since many Hong Kong students studying in the United Kingdom and the United States are preparing to return to Hong Kong, she has discussed with Cathay Pacific to take measures to increase flights and use large aircraft to help returning students to Hong Kong.

• The SAR Government also allocated 67,000 masks to Cathay Pacific for distribution to Hong Kong residents returning from the United Kingdom and the United States.

• Fighting the epidemic will be a protracted battle, and it is difficult to fully deal with the epidemic in the short term.

• It is no longer possible for Hong Kong schools to resume classes on April 20. The SAR government will not hold major events.

• Residents are urged to maintain social distance and avoid dinners and parties.

Macau

Yesterday, the Macao Special Administrative Region Government website also announced that starting from 00:00 on March 18, all non-residents except residents of mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Taiwan region and holders of identification cards for foreign employees will be banned from entering the Macao Special Administrative Region.

(Screenshot of the website of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government)

The directive states that, based on public interest considerations, especially for the prevention of illness, emergency relief, and the exceptions required to maintain the normal operation of Macao or the basic lives of residents, health authorities may exempt non-residents outside China from complying with restrictions on entry.

Source: 香港特区政府宣布自3月19日起，所有由外国入境人士须接受强制检疫或医学监察

Guangdong

Guangdong Province has officially announced that those entering from abroad (including transit through Hong Kong and Macau airports) through Guangdong ports, and from other cities in the Mainland will undergo port screening, special car transfers, and community health management.

How it will work

If the destination is the city where the port of entry is located, travelers will be transfered to their destination by a special command from the city, and 14 days of home or centralized medical observation will be carried out; if the destination is other cities in the province, the special command will be used to transfer the passenger and implement 14 days home or intensive medical observation.

If the destination is outside the province, the Guangdong Provincial Prevention and Control Headquarters will push the passenger related information to the destination province (autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government) and arrange for transportation to ensure the passenger arrives at the destination and takes prevention and control measures.

If the destination cannot be determined, the headquarters of the port of entry will arrange for centralized medical observation for 14 days.

Guangdong Province has also opened a multilingual 24-hour foreigner service hotline [phone] to assist foreigners coming to Guangdong to actively resolve issues related to prevention and control measures.

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As an important port and gateway for the overall entry of tourists from Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Bay Port has established a command headquarters to prevent the import of overseas cases and to strictly prevent the spread of epidemic infection.

Shenzhen Bay Port

At the port, unified triage will be carried out in order to conduct coronavirus testing and other epidemic prevention work.

Li Zhaozhi, Director of the Emergency Management Bureau of Shenzhen Nanshan District, said that all those entering the province will be tested and the results will be sent to their destination cities. 

If no abnormalities are found during testing, those entering will be sent to their designated public transport stations. 

Source: 从落地到隔离，入境广东一律“闭环式”管理！深圳湾口岸：核酸检测一个不漏！

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