HK quarantines 18 close contacts of MERS patient

A health worker with protective suits sitting with people (R) who came into close contact with the Korean Mers patient arrive at Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung, where they will spend two weeks in quarantine in Hong Kong, May 30, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

HONG KONG - Eighteen people having close contact with a South Korean man infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been sent to a quarantine camp, including two South Korean women who had earlier refused to be quarantined, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has said.

With the city on high alert over Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Saturday, the two Korean women among 18 plane passengers who sat close to the MERS patient have been tracked down in the Causeway Bay shopping district and quarantined, according to the HKSAR government news website on Saturday.

Secretary for Food and Health of HKSAR government Ko Wing-man said, with the assistance from the diplomatic personnel of South Korea in Hong Kong, the two women finally accepted to be quarantined.

"This is very important because once they are in the quarantine camp, our medical personnel from the Center for Health Protection will be able to chip in and conduct medical assessment," Ko said.

Hong Kong's health authorities have made plans for the 18 plane passengers to be quarantined for two weeks at the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung.