BANGKOK, 19 February 2020: Israeli public health authorities are restricting travellers from Macau, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong while the national El Al has reduced services to the region.
Health officials confirmed 16 February that non-residents who have visited Macau, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong within 14 days of their trips to Israel would be barred from entering the country.
Earlier in the week, South Korea advised its citizens to refrain from travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan in addition to a warning earlier this month banning travel to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
India advised its citizens to refrain from travelling to China and added that anyone with a travel history that includes China since 15 January would be quarantined. India’s e-visa facility for Chinese passport holders has been suspended.
The US has also banned entry to foreign nationals who travelled to China in the last 14 days. The advisory says the citizens returning to the US who have been in Hubei province in the previous 14 days will be quarantined for two weeks. Citizens returning to the US from the rest of mainland China in the last 14 days will also undergo a health screening and self-quarantine.
The UK has also issued a strict travel advisory for its citizens travelling to and from China and other parts of Asia. Visitors to the UK from countries that have confirmed Covid-19 infections will be screened at airports.
UK residents who have visited China, Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau during the last 14 days are warned they will have to self-quarantine if they develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath.
In Thailand, the Public Health Ministry said it is now urging Thais to postpone visits to Singapore and Japan, due to the rise in COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the two countries.
Thailand’s cases have risen to 35, and according to the Public Health Ministry Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima the virus outbreak in Singapore and Japan has reached the “third stage,” where locals with no record of meeting with Chinese people are infected.
Meanwhile, the Russian airline Aeroflot will reduce flights from Moscow to Hong Kong 1 to 28 March. Some flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have been cut until 28 March. Aeroflot is the only Russian airline operating flights to and from China at the moment.
