Hong Kong will close its doors Tuesday to all arrivals from South Korea except returning city residents in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak, the territory's security chief said.

"Considering the development of the epidemic in South Korea, the Security Bureau will issue a red travel alert," John Lee told reporters Monday.

The notice means anyone who has been in South Korea in the last fortnight will be denied entry to the international finance hub.

Hong Kong residents will be allowed to return, but will have to undergo a fortnight of medical surveillance.

South Korea has so far confirmed more than 800 cases of the novel coronavirus, by far the largest national total outside China, the origin of the disease.

Hong Kong has 79 confirmed cases, two of whom have died.

The city has implemented compulsory quarantine for any arrivals from mainland China, where the epidemic is most heavily concentrated.

The South Korea ban is the first time it has placed restrictions on a country beyond China.

On Monday, Hong Kong's government also said it would charter flights to evacuate residents from Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the epidemic began in late December.

Hundreds of Hong Kongers are still trapped in the city and have been begging for rescue.

Officials said they would prioritise the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and people needing urgent medical attention.

Last week, Hong Kong evacuated some 200 residents from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan which had a major outbreak of the virus.

Two of the returnees have since tested positive for the virus.

Pakistan quarantines 200 near Iran border on virus fears
Quetta, Pakistan (AFP) Feb 24, 2020 - Pakistan began quarantining at least 200 people near the Iranian border, officials said Monday, as fears spiralled over the growing toll from the coronavirus in the region amid allegations of a coverup in Iran.

The quarantine announcement came hours after Pakistan sealed off its land border with Iran while neighbouring Afghanistan said it had detected its first infection.

It also came as Iranian authorities denied allegations of an official coverup following reports that dozens of deaths had gone unreported in the country.

In Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province authorities moved fast to quarantine at least 200 people after Shiite Muslim piligrims returning from Iran entered the country and briefly interacted with other residents.

"We have decided not to take a chance and keep all of them under observation for the next 15 days," Najeebullah Qambrani, assistant commissioner at the Taftan border crossing, told AFP, saying 250 people were being quarantined.

Balochistan's secretary of health Mudassir Malik confirmed the quarantine but estimated that between 200 and 250 were being held.

He added that around 7,000 pilgrims had returned to Pakistan from Iran this month alone.

Afghanistan and Pakistan share long, porous borders with Iran that are often used by smugglers and human traffickers, while millions of Afghan refugees currently live in the Islamic Republic -- raising fears that the virus could easily spread over the border.

Pakistan -- bordered by China to the north and Iran to the south -- also suffers the additional burden of having a lacklustre healthcare system following decades of under-investment by the state, leaving impoverished, rural communities especially vulnerable.

Balochistan in particular is woefully unprepared to handle a public health emergency after being beset for decades by a separatist insurgency, jihadist violence, and neglect from the central government.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries, with more than 2,500 dead in China, and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China calls coronavirus 'largest public health emergency' since founding
Beijing (AFP) Feb 23, 2020
China's leader said Sunday the coronavirus epidemic is the communist country's "largest public health emergency" since its founding, as the deadly outbreak continued its relentless global expansion. Italy reported a spike in cases Sunday as it closed its famed Venice carnival early, while Iran said eight people had died from the virus there, prompting travel bans from neighbouring countries. The virus has so far killed more than 2,400 people, with some 80,000 infected globally, though China r ... read more