Hongkong/Macau:Travel curb set to foreign countries

The government on Tuesday issued a red travel alert - the second level of a three-tier system that rates travel safety - for the entire world except for the Chinese mainland, Macao and Taiwan.

In addition, beginning on Thursday, travelers arriving in Hong Kong from any foreign country will have to undergo a mandatory two-week home quarantine or medical surveillance, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced on Tuesday.

About 90 percent of the city's new coronavirus cases in the past two weeks have been either imported or related to close contacts.

The new quarantine rules will not apply to arrivals from Macao and Taiwan, while the same requirements have been in place for travelers from the mainland since Feb 8.

Lam urged all Hong Kong residents to shun nonessential outbound travel.

More than 4,400 tour groups, comprising nearly 140,000 travelers, have been canceled as of Monday noon because of the pandemic, according to Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. The council said it is working with the government to help tourists return to the city as soon as possible.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, left, holds a note explaining home quarantine rules for household members of inbound travelers from overseas, ahead of the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday at the Central Governmen Complex. [Photo by Parker Zheng/China Daily]

Lam said these decisions were made after a meeting with expert advisers, who agreed that border controls should be tightened to protect against a second wave of imported infections.

The city confirmed 10 new Covid-19 cases that took its total to 167. At least eight of the new patients had travelled overseas recently, and four had only just returned home a day earlier, two of them students escaping from Britain, where the situation looked grim.

With the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths across the world continuing to surge above mainland China’s total, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor expanded a red travel alert to cover all countries and jurisdictions except for neighbouring Macau, Taiwan and mainland China.

Starting from Thursday, anyone arriving from overseas would have to undergo home quarantine for 14 days and be subject to another two weeks of medical surveillance.

Arrivals from the mainland – which reported 21 new cases, all imported except for one at ground zero in Wuhan – are already required to self-isolate at home.

But the tighter restrictions have also raised worrying questions about whether the city’s health care system and manpower could cope with the expected surge of people who would have to be monitored under home quarantine, and whether limited isolation facilities would be overwhelmed.

“If we do not impose tougher measures at this stage, our previous efforts to prevent the disease from spreading throughout these two months could be completely wasted,” Lam said.

“If all these imported cases lead to a community outbreak, the consequence will be unimaginable and increase the burden on the public health system.”

The city’s leader said the decision was made after top officials consulted infectious disease experts, who concluded the focus should shift to shutting out imported cases.

Lam said she would not go as far as Macau, which is barring entry to all non-residents except those from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan from Wednesday, while mandatory 14-day home quarantine for its own citizens remains effective.

“While we are still in a pandemic situation, we have to allow the city to continue, business to resume, otherwise we may have more problems on the economic front,” she said.

The chief executive also justified waiting until Thursday for the new measures to come into force as necessary to give everyone due notice.

David Hui Shu-cheong, an infectious disease expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said these measures will be effective by discouraging travelers from entering Hong Kong, while, at the same time, allowing the entry of students studying overseas.

"I don't think any traveler would like to enter the city knowing they have to experience 14 days of quarantined life," said Hui, who is a member of the government's advisory panel. He believes home quarantine is an administrative measure that equals a border shutdown.

A traveller takes anti-infection precautions at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Ho Pak-leung, a top microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the government should further ban non-Hong Kong residents from entering the city for the next month.

Ho said this would free up space in quarantine facilities so returning residents who are likely to have caught the disease can be treated better. He suggested returning students stay at designated facilities to protect family members from infection.

Macau non-residents prohibited in the territory from Wednesday

The Macau government prohibited the entrance in the territory, from 00:00 March 18, to all non-residents according to an executive order from the Chief Executive published on Tuesday in the Official Gazette (BO).

The new measures will not be applied to holders of identification cards for residents and employees outside the mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.

BORDERS CLOSING TO VISITORS 

/ ENCERRAMENTO DAS FRONTEIRAS

Starting at midnight of the 18th of March, visitors will not be allowed to enter Macau.
This measure applies to all from every country EXCEPT:
- Macau residents
- blue card / white card holders
- Hong Kong residents
- Taiwan residents
- Mainland China residents
These are allowed to enter Macau (quarantine applies in cases already published before)

A partir da meia-noite de dia 18 de Março, Macau proíbe a entrada de todas as pessoas, excepto:
- residentes de Macau
- portadores de título de trabalhador não residente (blue card/white card)
- residentes do Interior da China
- residentes de Hong Kong
- residentes de Taiwan
Estas pessoas poderão entrar em Macau (medidas de quarentena já anunciadas continuam a aplicar-se)

The new measures will not be applied to holders of identification cards for residents and employees outside the mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.

The Macau government said the decision is taken due to the spread of new coronavirus infections around the world.

In order to prevent the import of foreign infection cases and protect the health of Macau residents, the Chief Executive made the above-mentioned instructions in accordance with Article 25 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

The directive also stipulates that health authorities may exempt non-residents outside China from complying with the prohibition of entry in the public interest, especially in the prevention and treatment of diseases, emergency relief, and exceptions required to maintain the normal operation of Macau or the basic lives of residents.

Macao has recorded three imported cases since Sunday, ending a 40-day streak of no new infections reported. The latest infection, the 13th, involved a 20-year-old student, also a Macao resident, who returned through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge after taking a flight from London to Hong Kong. Her infection was confirmed on Tuesday.

Source: By Gu Mengyan in Hong Kong|chinadaily.com.cn；https://macaunews.mo; https://www.scmp.com/news, by Natalie Wong, Chan Ho-him and  Tony Cheung      

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