GUANGZHOU — South China's Guangdong province has demanded all arrivals from overseas to undergo concentrated quarantine and nucleic acid testing (NAT) starting from 6:00 am on March 27 in a bid to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

Travelers from overseas, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, will be quarantined in designated places for 14 days. The quarantine expenses shall be paid by passengers themselves, according to the office of the provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters.

Specific personnel who help ensure normal life and production in Hong Kong and Macao and drivers and ship crew members who ferry badly-needed supplies across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao will not be quarantined for the time being, but all need to undergo nucleic acid testing, it said. Authorities will beef up health management for the group of people.

The province will closely monitor the overseas epidemic situation and strengthen communication and cooperation with the governments of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Macao SAR to further stem the spread of the novel coronavirus from overseas, it said.