Hong Kong screens tourists arriving at station

Hong Kong health officials said on Friday they were concerned about how to manage thousands of tourists expected to arrive at one of the region's busiest train stations, amid concerns over the deadly new virus spreading across China.

Health officials have begun screening passengers at West Kowloon Station, a major terminal for people arriving from mainland China for lunar new year celebrations.

Passengers are being required to fill carry out health declaration at the station, but Head of the Communicable Disease Branch for the Hong Kong Health Department Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said with a possibility of 20,000 people coming to the terminal they were "very worried about how to manage this."

Two cases of the new strain of coronavirus have been identified so far in Hong Kong, with four close contacts of the cases under observation for signs of symptoms.

At least one of the cases was a tourist who arrived in Hong Kong from Wuhan province, the epicentre of the new virus' spread.