#14,809
Despite the vigorous protests by the Chinese government against restrictions placed on travel to and from China by a number of countries - including the United States - Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has taken the extraordinary step of mandating a 14-day quarantine for any travelers arriving from the Mainland (starting Saturday).
Lam has been under increasing pressure to stop travel from the Mainland in recent days, which is the primary demand of local healthcare workers, thousands of whom have gone on strike.The announcement of 3 locally acquired cases without a known risk exposure in the past 24 hours has likely upped the ante, and while an official announcement hasn't been posted, numerous local and international news agencies are reporting the announcement was made at a press conference in the past couple of hours.
First, an English language video news report from Channel News Asia.
And this from the South China Morning Post (SCMP):
Coronavirus: Hong Kong to require all travellers entering from mainland China to go into quarantine for 14 days as city’s leader invokes special powers
- Measure will take effect on Saturday to enable residents affected to make adjustments to their plans
- Lam also apologises for remark demanding that government officials only wear masks under strict circumstances in a bid to conserve supplies
So far, no details have been released on how, and where, arrivals from the Mainland will be quarantined.
Given the logistical challenges involved, and the economic and political ramifications (both locally and on the Mainland), it is hard to image this step being taken if substantial progress was being made in containing the epidemic in China.
