Macau to ban entry to visitors from Hubei province amid Coronavirus outbreak

Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, Macau on January 27 said that it will deny entry to visitors from China's Hubei province unless they can provide documentation showing that they are not infected with the virus. The Macau government also said that they will also not allow those who visited the province 14 days prior to their arrival. The deadly SARS-like virus has already killed 80 people in China and infected nearly 2,500 people since its outbreak. 

Just like Macau, Hong Kong has also banned visitors from China's Hubei province. The number of deaths in Hubei province climbed from 56 to 76 overnight according to the Chinese health commission. Hong Kong on January 25 declared the virus as an 'emergency' and further upgraded the Hong Kong Disease contingency plan form 'serious' to 'emergency' level. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam while addressing a press conference also announced that the schools in the city have been suspended until February 17.

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China's immediate neighbour, Mongolia has further closed all universities and educational institutes until March 2 to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. Citing a cabinet meeting, Mongolian state media also said that it has closed the border crossings for auto vehicles and pedestrian traffic from January 27 and called for public gatherings to be cancelled.

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'Emergency in China'

In order to strengthen control over the virus outbreak, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, has suspended visa and passport services for Chinese citizens until January 30. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not yet classified the virus as an international emergency considering the low number of overseas cases. However, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called it 'an emergency in China'.

According to the WHO, symptoms of Coronavirus may include runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, and fever. In more severe cases, it may lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Experts and researchers are yet to understand the destructive potential of the new virus and have yet not found a cure for the same. 

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(With inputs from Agencies)