The jurisdiction has acted, concerned that travellers from abroad could undermine efforts to contain the virus outbreak. A Hong Kong student travelling from Switzerland at the weekend reportedly has tested positive, highlighting how Europe is now a source for infection.

Travellers arriving in Hong Kong from any foreign country from tomorrow (19 March) must enter a 14-day home quarantine or go under medical surveillance, the city’s leader has said, as the Asian jurisdiction widened a travel alert to cover all overseas nations. The ban will clearly affect sectors such as wealth management and financial services professionals doing business in Hong Kong. 

The new restrictions won’t apply to arrivals from Macau or Taiwan. Those arriving from mainland China had already been required to isolate at home since last month, reports said.

A report in the South China Morning Post said the rule tightening was enforced after an 18-year-old Hong Kong student – not identified by name - who returned from Switzerland on 15 March tested “tentatively positive” for the virus, potentially taking the city’s infection tally to 158. The student, who is French, was being treated at Eastern Hospital, the SCMP said yesterday. 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the decision was made after top officials met experts, who concluded that efforts to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the city should shift to control of imported infections, as the number of cases abroad had exceeded the total in mainland China.

Lam said most of the cases confirmed in the previous two weeks involved patients who had recently been abroad. The new cases took the city’s total to 158, including a suspected case.

“If we do not impose tougher measures at this stage, our previous efforts to prevent the disease from spreading throughout these two months could be completely wasted,” Lam said, according to her office’s website.

“And the important point is, if I can share this statistic with you [journalists], all the confirmed cases, especially those so-called imported cases or those who have travel history during the incubation period, or the close contacts, up to now they are all Hong Kong residents,” Lam said, explaining the quarantine and other measures.

Hong Kong, one of the world’s most important financial services hubs, banned travel from mainland China, shuttered large events and has taken other health measures since the coronavirus outbreak in China started. Along with Singapore and South Korea, the jurisdiction’s actions are often praised in the media and commentariat for being relatively effective in slowing and containing the virus.