People wears face masks walk on a downtown street in Hong Kong, Feb 26, 2020. (VINCENT YU/AP)
HONG KONG - The World Health Organization (WHO) affirmed Hong Kong’s anti-coronavirus efforts in the past six weeks as “very effective”.
READ MORE: Hong Kong closes more border checkpoints for virus control
Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, made the remarks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus in Geneva on Monday local time. He said Hong Kong did well in both suppressing and driving transmission down.
Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, said Hong Kong did well in both suppressing and driving transmission down
Addressing the same conference, WHO Director-Gel neraTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said almost nine times as many coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours outside the Chinese mainland than inside, where the number of new reported cases is on the decline.
Drastic measures have been taken in Hong Kong to contain the spread of the disease. The government successively closed down all but three border check points connecting with the Chinese mainland, and imposed a 14-day mandatory home quarantine on every visitor from the mainland.
ALSO READ: CE: All arrivals from mainland to be quarantined for 14 days
Meanwhile, it requires visitors from South Korea, three Italian regions and Iran to be quarantined for 14 days amid escalating numbers of infection in those countries.
Hong Kong confirmed 100 infections as of Monday. The city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said before the weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday that the condition was controllable “but we still need to stay alert because the coronavirus has no borders”.
