All flight passengers arriving from the Chinese mainland must complete and submit a health declaration form as of 9 am Wednesday, the Hong Kong government announced on Tuesday.
Previously, only mainland travelers entering the city through the West Kowloon Station of the Express Rail Link were required to make such a declaration — one of the many measures to battle the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak that originated inWuhan, the capital city of Central China’s Hubei province.
Previously, only mainland travelers entering the city through the West Kowloon Station of the Express Rail Link were required to make such a declaration
A spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said the government is considering adopting the same practice at other checkpoints.
In addition to investigating the eight confirmed cases of infection in Hong Kong, the center is closely monitoring a number of overseas cases and conducting related contact tracing after it received several reports of confirmed cases outside the city that had made contacts in the city through various transportation and means.
One of the cases is a female patient in Haikou, Hainan province, who took Cathay Dragon Flight KA694 from Hong Kong to Haikou on Monday and was found to have a fever after arriving at Haikou Meilan International Airport. She was subsequently transferred to a hospital there.
On the same day, the center also received notification of two confirmed cases in Taiwan involving two female patients who claimed to live in Wuhan. The two patients had taken Cathay Pacific Airways Flight CX408 from Hong Kong to Taiwan on Jan 21 before showing symptoms. Both then sought medical attention in Taiwan.
On Monday night, the CHP received notification of a confirmed case in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, involving a 55-year-old man who claimed to live in the Sai Kung district of Hong Kong. He visited Wuhan from Jan 10 to 16, and developed symptoms on Jan 23. He traveled to Zhanjiang on Sunday and sought medical attention there.
In addition, the health authority of the United States also informed the CHP on Monday night of a confirmed case involving a 54-year-old man. He took Cathay Dragon Flight KA855 from Wuhan to Hong Kong on Jan 20, and then took Cathay Pacific Flight CX880 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on Jan 21. Meanwhile, the CHP is still following up on the cases in Huizhou and Japan that were announced on Saturday.
The CHP is continuing its epidemiological investigations and contact tracing. Quarantines will be arranged for close contacts, while medical surveillance will be arranged for other contacts. The Lady MacLehose Holiday Village under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been converted into a quarantine center, and close contacts will be transferred to the village for quarantine, it said in the statement.
