The Hong Kong government is looking at restrictions on people coming to the SAR from South Korea and Japan in light of coronavirus outbreaks, as travel agencies in the city cancelled dozens of tours to Seoul.

A member of the expert panel advising Chief Executive Carrie Lam on the coronavirus situation, Yuen kwok-yung, said officials have discussed the implementation of measures like health declaration forms, medical surveillance and even mandatory quarantine for people arriving from Japan and South Korea. 

Only people who have visited the mainland recently are currently scrutinised by Hong Kong authorities.

Macau said on Sunday that it will allow entry to visitors from South Korea only after medical examinations.

Only those with a clean bill of health will be allowed in, the authorities said.

Taking part in a radio programme, Yuen said a decision on whether to take epidemic prevention measures depends on the risk factors. For example, Daegu City is an epidemic area, and quarantine measures will be justified, but strict restrictions may not be required from other parts of South Korea, he said.

Meanwhile three travel agencies said they were cancelling some 120 tours to South Korea because of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Hong Thai Travel, EGL Tours and Big Line Holiday's decisions to stop sending tours until next month affect some 2,500 travellers.

Hong Thai won't arrange trips there until the middle of next month, and the other two until the end of next month. The companies said they made the move to ensure the safety of holidaymakers and their staff.

WWPKG, however, is keeping its tours to South Korea for now. It said it will only cancel them if there's a travel alert, or if people returning from the country have to be quarantined.

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Last updated: 2020-02-24 HKT 14:40