Health authorities are scrambling to halt the spread of a new virus that has killed hundreds in China, restricting visitors from the country and confining thousands on cruise ships for extensive screening after some passengers tested positive.
But with important details about the illness and how it spreads still unknown, officials and medical personnel are struggling.
The country has banned entry to all foreigners who travelled to China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, after Jan. 21. The government says it will consider stopping South Korean tourist visits to China if the outbreak worsens. Critics say a quarantine centre on the Australian mainland would be preferable to Christmas Island. Some inhabitants of the island say the government is turning their home into a "leper colony."
Officials say 518 evacuees have been placed under a 14-day quarantine at a hotel and three government facilities near Tokyo. Those with symptoms have been treated in isolation rooms at hospitals. Rival South Korea last week withdrew dozens of officials from an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong after North Korea insisted on closing it until the epidemic is controlled.
Argentina hasn't placed restrictions on visitors from China. But two hospitals in Buenos Aires and Ezeiza have been designated for possible isolation and treatment of patients.Hong Kong said Wednesday more than 3,600 people on board a cruise ship that was turned away from a Taiwanese port will be quarantined until health checks are completed. The ship was refused entry at Kaohsiung port after three passengers on an earlier voyage later tested positive for the virus.
Evacuees were screened in a six-hour process at the airport in Wuhan before boarding with none showing definitive signs of the virus. They landed at U-Tapao airport and were taken to the Sattahip Navy Lodge, which normally serves as a guest house. They will be kept there two to a room for 14 days, with family members allowed to visit them if they are still not showing symptoms after three days' stay.
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