HKSAR mulls new travel restrictions over COVID-19

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will implement further travel restrictions involving places badly hit by the coronavirus in a bid to prevent cases from entering the region, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday.

"Whether it is putting that country or area under a 'red' outbound travel alert, or imposing port health requirements or quarantine requirements on arrivals from that country or region, or even more drastically restricting the entry of arrivals from that country, then as a matter of respect and courtesy, we will reach out to that particular consul general and that's exactly what we are doing today," Lam told reporters, adding an announcement would be made later in the day.

But Lam did not specify which countries exactly will be put on the list. 

She said several factors including number of confirmed cases and measures taken by the country will be taken into consideration.

She also called for Hong Kong residents to avoid unnecessary outbound visits.

Hong Kong already requires people arriving from the Chinese mainland to isolate for 14 days.

It also barred non-residents from entering Hong Kong if they have been in South Korea in the previous 14 days, with a "red" travel alert issued on February 25 for Hong Kong residents to avoid non-essential trips to the country.