Hong Kong News
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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Hong Kong Suspends Rail And Ferry Links With China As Virus Spreads
Hong Kong is suspending all cross border high speed rail and ferry services and limiting flights to mainland China as it seeks to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.
- Hong Kong’s chief
executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the train and ferry services
would be suspended from Thursday, while the number of flights would be
halved.
- Personal travel permits for mainland China would also be suspended, she said in an address as she wore a facemask, Reuters reported.
- Hong
Kong has been weighing up several options for limiting the flow of
people between the mainland and the hub. Around 400 people from Hubei
who have tried to enter this week have been denied entry, the South China Morning Post reported.
- Some
106 people have died, while 4,614 cases have been reported of the
pneumonia-like virus, mostly in mainland China. Eight of those cases are
in Hong Kong, while there are 36 across the rest of Asia.
- The
virus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has spread
to Europe, Australia and North America since the first case was
reported in China on December 8.
- The disease is spread through droplets from coughing and sneezing and is believed to have originated from illegally traded animals in a Wuhan food market. Early symptoms include coughing, fever, and breathing difficulties.
