Countries move to restrict China arrivals
COUNTRIES stepped up travel restrictions on arrivals from China yesterday after a global health emergency was declared over a novel coronavirus epidemic.
Cases were found abroad, with more than 20 countries now affected by the disease.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a global health emergency, but said it was not recommending any international trade or travel restrictions and urged the numerous countries already taking such measures to reconsider.
The US State Department raised its warning alert to the highest level, telling Americans “do not travel” to China and urged those already there to leave.
Singapore, Vietnam and Mongolia went a step further.
Citing a likely “sharper rise” in the spread of the virus, Singapore barred arrivals and transit passengers who visited China in the past 14 days, and stopped issuing all forms of new visas to Chinese passport holders.
Mongolia will ban Chinese nationals and foreigners coming from the neighboring country from today until March 2. Mongolians will be barred from going to China over the same period.
In Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered the suspension of new tourist visas for Chinese citizens and foreigners who have been in China over the last two weeks.
Japan, meanwhile, joined Britain, Germany and other countries that have recommended that their citizens avoid China.
The WHO has declared a global health emergency five times since the practice began in 2007 — for swine flu, polio, Zika and twice for Ebola.
It allows the United Nations health body to issue recommendations that the international community is expected to follow. But the WHO warned yesterday that closing borders was probably ineffective in halting transmissions of the virus and could even accelerate its spread.
“As we know from other scenarios, be it Ebola or other cases whenever people want to travel ... if the official paths are not open, they will find unofficial paths,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said in Geneva.
Many airlines have suspended or reduced flights to China.
Some countries banned entry for travellers from Wuhan, the city in central Hubei Province where the virus first surfaced.
Italy, which has stopped all flights to and from China, declared a state of emergency yesterday to fast-track efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.
China said yesterday it sent charter planes to Thailand and Malaysia to bring Hubei residents back to Wuhan, citing the “practical difficulties” they have encountered overseas.
Myanmar sent a plane back to China after a Chinese passenger was hospitalized with possible symptoms of the virus.
The US reported its first case of person-to-person transmission of the virus on American soil — a Chicago man, who got it from his wife, who had been to Wuhan.
Britain and Russia each reported their first two cases.
(AFP)