Macau authorities searched dozens of hotels across the city on Monday for visitors from virus-hit Hubei province, deporting around 150 people, and saying the operation to find hundreds more would continue.

The SAR's authorities had announced that from midnight on Monday, people from Hubei – and others who had visited the province in the past two weeks – would only be allowed into the city if they had a medical certificate to prove they weren't infected with the deadly new virus.

But several thousand Hubei residents were believed to have entered the city over the previous few days, and officials said these people could either leave or go into quarantine camps.

The authorities said they went to 86 hotels on Monday and found around 150 Hubei residents who were escorted to the border.

A family of four opted to go into quarantine for a fortnight instead, saying they already had relatives in isolation at a Macau hospital.

Police said no visitors from Hubei had entered Macau during the day, because nobody had the required medical certificate giving them the all clear.

The authorities said they believed there were around 500 people from Hubei province still to be found in Macau and the search for them was ongoing.

Macau has so far confirmed six infections of the new Wuhan pneumonia.

On Sunday night, Hong Kong announced a similar ban until further notice on arrivals from Hubei province, with Hong Kong residents exempt from this.