Hong Kong bans entry of visitors from China virus province

Children wearing face masks crossing a road during a Lunar New Year of the Rat public holiday in Hong Kong on Monday (Jan 27), as a preventative measure following a coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Residents of Hubei province, will be banned from entering Hong Kong from Monday. - AFP

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Residents of China's Hubei province, where the new coronavirus outbreak was first reported, will be banned from entering Hong Kong from Monday (Jan 27) as China tries to halt the rapid spread of the outbreak.

China's Cabinet also announced it will extend the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Feb 2 and schools will return from their break later than usual, state broadcaster CCTV said.