Tourists wearing protective face masks walk on San Marco square in Venice on March 8, 2020. (ANDREA PATTARO / AFP)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong government on Tuesday announced that anyone arriving in the city from Italy, as well as parts of France, Germany, Spain and Japan, will be put under quarantine, effective Saturday, as part of the efforts to prevent the further import of new coronavirus cases.

The announcement came shortly after the government issued red outbound travel alerts on more places worldwide in light of the spread of coronavirus in those regions.

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The HKSAR government on Tuesday issued red outbound travel alert on Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and Grand Est regions in France, the North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany, Hokkaido in Japan as well as the La Rioja, Madrid and Pais Vasco regions in Spain

The alert covers the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and Grand Est regions in France, the North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany, Hokkaido in Japan as well as the La Rioja, Madrid and Pais Vasco regions in Spain, the HKSAR government said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The alert currently in force on Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto regions in Italy will be expanded to the entire country, according to the statement.

The Department of Health said inbound visitors of Hong Kong, who have been to the aforementioned places in the past 14 days, will be put in quarantine, effective Saturday.

The government urged Hong Kong residents planning to travel to those places to adjust plans and avoid non-essential trips.

The move came as more than 100 countries and regions worldwide have reported confirmed cases of the COVID-19 infections.

The HKSAR government had already issued travel alert on and restricted visitors from South Korea and Iran.  

Quarantine measures announced earlier for arrivals who had been to South Korea and Iran in the past 14 days remain unchanged.

A spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong said that the government has been conducting detailed assessments for formulating port health measures in response to the outbreaks in countries or areas outside Hong Kong.

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The assessment will take into account factors such as number, distribution and rate of increase of infected persons, measures put in place for surveillance and control of the outbreak, and the frequency of visits by Hong Kong residents, the spokesman said.

The government will review and adjust the measures in view of the developments, the spokesman added. 

Health authorities also said that a number of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong are related to a tour group to India, indicating the possibility of community transmission there.

The public should be aware of the potential health risk before traveling there.