The Hong Kong government decided on Friday to strengthen health quarantine arrangements on inbound travelers arriving from Italy's three regions and Iran.

AFP

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government decided on Friday to strengthen health quarantine arrangements on inbound travelers arriving from Italy's three regions and Iran.

Starting from 12am on March 1, the Port Health Division of the HKSAR government's Department of Health will issue quarantine orders under Hong Kong's Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation to people (regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents) arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy or Veneto regions in Italy or Iran in the past 14 days and arrange them to stay in quarantine center for quarantine, the DH said in a statement.

The HKSAR government issued the Red Outbound Travel Alert Friday on the three regions in Italy in response to the latest situations of COVID-19 there. It also alerted the public about the outbreak of COVID-19 cases and associated public health risk in Iran under the Red Outbound Travel Alert currently in force.

In view of the latest situations of COVID-19 overseas, the DH said its Center for Health Protection will further update relevant reporting criteria to enhance surveillance of suspected cases.

Medical practitioners are requested to report to the CHP any individual presented with fever or acute respiratory illness or pneumonia who has travel history to a place with active community transmission of COVID-19, or had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 within 14 days before onset of symptom.