British tourists are among 300 people being held at a hotel in Hong Kong after a fellow guest became ill with swine flu.
The Metropark Hotel in the Wanchai area has banned guests from leaving the hotel for seven days in case they spread the virus.
The 25-year-old traveller from Mexico who contracted the virus is being treated in isolation in hospital.
Reports say guests are only being allowed to leave their rooms for meals and medical workers are administering flu tests and checking guests’ temperatures every few hours.
Meanwhile, ABTA is advising members to review their business contingency plans in the event that the World Health Organisation raises its pandemic alert from five to six.
An ABTA spokeswoman said: “We believe it would be helpful for members to have access to existing contingency plans produced by the government and the Department of Heath. These are available on the members’ area of the ABTA website.”
Leaflets will be delivered to UK homes today as part of a nationwide campaign to provide information about the virus. The number of cases in the UK has risen to 27 and five schools have now been closed.
The Foreign Office is continuing to warn against all but essential travel to Mexico.
Follow the latest on swine flu at www.travelweekly.co.uk/swineflu