Four sports teams consisting of at least 40 teenagers and officials are stranded in China after their flight to Hong Kong was cancelled on Tuesday, due to the rising outbreak of the coronavirus that has caused major airlines to suspend flights.

‘Onetoto ‘Anisi from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said today, the four teams were swimming, table tennis, boxing and weightlifting. 

He said the swimming and table tennis teams were scheduled to arrive in Tonga last night (via Auckland) but their flight was cancelled from mainland China to Hong Kong. 

The teenage swimming team was expected to depart China on Tuesday night, January 28.

The other teams were set to return to Tonga next week. They were training under the China Aid Project on Sports Technical Assistance to Tonga.

“At the moment, the Chinese Government is trying to rebook all of them on a different route. We should have an update today on that,” ‘Onetoto said. 

“In the meantime, we have received information from the Tongan Ambassador there, that the teams are well and are contained in their hotels. They have 24-hour medical check ups and are provided for,” he said. 

No one is in Wuhan.

Matangi Tonga understands that the sports team departed Tonga in December 2019 and had been training at various provinces for about two-months.

The sports training program is run by the Chinese Government in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Sports section).

Hong Kong

Meanwhile on January 28, media reports stated that authorities in Hong Kong have shut down rail connections from mainland China as the number of deaths in the Wuhan novel coronavirus epidemic passed 100.

Trains are no longer running on express routes connecting Hong Kong to neighboring cities in mainland China, nor on the high-speed rail line to West Kowloon station, the city's government told a news conference.

Flights coming in from mainland Chinese cities will be cut by around half, while all cross-boundary ferry services between Hong Kong and mainland China are suspended, it said.