Hong Kong bans transit flights from over 150 countries

HONG KONG – Hong Kong International Airport said it volition prohibition transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent question controls successful an effort to stem the dispersed of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Authorities besides said Friday they volition widen societal distancing restrictions, including a prohibition connected eating successful aft 6 p.m., by different 2 weeks implicit the Lunar New Year holidays to Feb. 3. Large-scale events, specified arsenic Lunar New Year fairs held annually successful Hong Kong, volition beryllium canceled.

The transit prohibition and hold of distancing rules travel arsenic the metropolis grapples with an omicron outbreak of the coronavirus, with astir of the cases traced to 2 unit members of Cathay Pacific who had breached isolation rules and dined astatine restaurants and bars successful the metropolis earlier investigating positive.

Over the past 2 weeks, authorities person locked down aggregate residential buildings crossed the metropolis and mass-tested thousands arsenic they sought to stamp retired omicron infections.

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“We're disquieted that determination whitethorn beryllium asymptomatic Hong Kong carriers who are inactive missed successful the community,” said Hong Kong person Carrie Lam during a quality league Friday.

“So our appraisal connected this ground is that determination is inactive a hazard of an outbreak,” she said.

Airline passengers who person stayed successful implicit 150 places deemed “high risk” successful the past 21 days, including the United States and Britain, volition beryllium banned from transiting successful Hong Kong from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15, according to a announcement posted by the airport.

Over 50 section infections person been reported successful the assemblage since the extremity of 2021. Prior to that, Hong Kong went 3 months with nary assemblage transmissions and had been successful talks with the mainland to resume quarantine-exempted question with the remainder of China.

Last week, Hong Kong imposed a two-week prohibition connected incoming flights from the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Britain, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

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The metropolis past week banned eating successful aft 6 p.m. and ordered venues specified arsenic museums, cinemas, gyms and libraries to adjacent for astatine slightest 2 weeks.

Hong Kong has aligned itself with China’s “zero-tolerance” COVID-19 policy, with authorities intent connected stamping retired each outbreaks with sometimes draconian measures.

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