The city is only 175km southwest of Shanghai, which has had more than 200 cases, including one death, so far. The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the territory closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to slow the spread of the virus. He was a Hong Kong resident who had traveled last month to Wuhan, returning home on Jan. 23 via a high-speed rail link. News of the fatality broke as a strike by Hong Kong medical workers protesting against the government’s response to the crisis entered its second day, with the Hong Kong Hospital Authority saying that about 4,400 staff were absent — including about 360 doctors and 2,500 nurses. Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, which killed nearly 300 people in the territory and 349 people in China.

Source: Taipei Times February 04, 2020 15:56 UTC