MACAO, June 9 -- The government of China's Macao Special Administrative Region had raised the response level for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) from "Alert" to "High Alert" in view of the increasing MERS patients number in South Korea, the Health Bureau in a press release on Tuesday.

According to the bureau, "High Alert" is the third highest of the 4-respond level in Macao, below "Serious" and "Emergency".

The health Bureau required citizens to wear masks when entering hospitals and advised them not to travel to South Korea temporarily. If unavoidable, it urged travelers to ensure personal hygiene, avoid going to the local medical institutions and meeting local medical personnel.

Apart from mentioned advice, a cross-sectoral group with the Health Bureau would operate in 24 hours to prevent MERS from spreading to Macao.

Disease Prevention and Conservation Center has started a daily report mechanism, asking medical and health care facilities to brief serious respiratory cases and evaluate the possible trend of the disease. Meanwhile, two quarantine spots which can accommodate 180 persons are arranged and stockpile of reagents are increased from 300 to 2,000 in case of need.

The bureau has been contacting closely with the related departments in neighboring regions, exchanging information on prevention and control of infectious diseases. The Liaison channel between Macao and S. Korea has been established to track the situation of MERS.