Guwahati: In Hong Kong hundreds of hospital workers have gone on strike, demanding the border with landmass China be completely closed to decrease the risk of the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
Hong Kong has suspended ferry services and cross-border rail, but health workers want a total border shut down.
The officials in charge say the closing of the border completely would go against advice from the World Health Organization.
There have been 15 confirmed cases of the virus in the city so far.
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" Winnie Yu, chairwoman of the newly-formed Hospital Authority Employees Alliance said, "If there is no full border closure, there won't be enough manpower, protective equipment, or isolation rooms, to combat the outbreak”.
On Monday hundreds of "non-essential" medical workers went on strike. The union said to the frontline workers - including doctors and nurses - would continue on Tuesday if their demands were not met.
Hong Kong which has a population of 7 million, is a part of China but retains important autonomy. The border functions in the same way as a normal international checkpoint process.
China has also stopped issuing visas for individual travelers to Hong Kong along with transportation closures.
There have been more than 17,000 confirmed cases of the novel virus and 361 deaths in the landmass of China alone. Whereas, in the Philippines, there are more than 150 confirmed cases of the virus with one death.
Other countries in the meantime have seen their national carriers temporarily suspended all flights to mainland China. These include Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, UK, and Italy amongst others.