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Bloomberg
Hong Kong is banning flights from eight countries including the US and UK for two weeks from January 8, in a drastic tightening of rules as it rushes to plug holes that have seen the highly infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant break through the city’s defenses.
The bans last until Jan. 20 and also apply to flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The government is also tightening social-distancing measures, banning evening dining-in at restaurants and closing venues including bars, gyms and bathhouses, Lam said, warning there may be “silent transmission†of the virus in the community. The moves come amid fears that the city’s low vaccination rate makes it uniquely vulnerable to a new outbreak as Omicron arrives.
The flight bans are a sharp escalation in travel curbs that have already left the city largely cut off from the world, while keeping it mostly virus-free for over seven months. The government had already suspended two dozen individual airline routes in less than six weeks, throwing holiday travel into chaos.
The latest of those specific suspensions included routes flown by Hong Kong’s embattled flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., as well as Air India Ltd., Air Canada, Thai Airways International Pcl and Philippines AirAsia.
Infected travelers are being sent to North Lantau Hospital for treatment and isolation, but the facility appears to be reaching capacity already.
Garry Frenklah, a salesman who tested positive upon return from Australia, said staff told him he was put in a ward with three other Covid patients because there wasn’t enough space. The 54-year-old, who is not showing any symptoms, had asked to at least be put with other asymptomatic patients as he has a compromised immune system. Staffing has also been an issue, Frenklah said, with sample collection — scheduled for 8 a.m — more than an hour late, breakfast only provided at 10 am, and no doctors available at night.