Shanghai's government on Mar 17 further enhanced its COVID-19 prevention and control efforts by extending quarantine measures to inbound travelers from 16 countries.

The countries include South Korea, Italy, Iran, Japan, France, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria.

The municipality announced the expansion of its mandatory quarantine policy for travelers during the daily news conference about the containment of the novel coronavirus in Shanghai.

People who have been to any of those 16 countries within the past two weeks will be required to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon entering Shanghai, according to a notice released by the municipal government's leadership group in charge of fighting the COVID-19 virus.

Travelers from these countries must undergo epidemiological investigation and will be escorted to their homes or designated quarantine hotels by chartered buses to minimize their contact with others.

According to Zeng Qun, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs, travelers will be required to cover their own accommodation and food expenses during their quarantine at the designated hotels.

Zeng added that travelers from any of these 16 countries in the past 14 days entering Shanghai via other ports will also have to be quarantined at home or specified hotels and undergo epidemiological investigation.

Individuals will undergo nucleic acid tests for the coronavirus at designated site in each district. Those testing negative will be escorted to their residences to undergo 14-day quarantine, while people testing positive will be transferred to designated medical treatment institutions.

Xu Wei, the spokesperson for the municipality said on Tuesday that Shanghai will adjust the list of countries and regions according to the global development of the pandemic.