Hong Kong has announced that it will halve its bans on airlines bringing COVID-positive passengers into the county. From April 1st, route bans will be cut from two weeks to seven days as the country also lifts its flight ban on nine countries, including the US, UK and France.
Airline route bans halved to seven days
Hong Kong will cut its airline route suspensions in half starting this Friday. Individual route suspensions for airlines that have flown three or more positive-testing passengers into the country will now last for seven days, down from 14 days.
The government said in a statement, “On the premise of continuing the measures to guard against the importation of cases, the government requires that all airlines must stringently enforce the boarding requirements for inbound travelers, so as to reduce the risk of importation of cases as far as practicable.”
A seven-day route suspension will continue to apply to cases with at least one positive passenger or one case of non-compliance with pre-departure testing.
Over the pandemic, Hong Kong has implemented a flight ban system that imposes suspensions on airlines bringing passengers into the country who test positive for COVID-19.
The country will also implement further COVID-19 airport testing from March 29th. Travelers checking in for flights to China will need to undergo an additional rapid PCR test at the airport. This needs to be taken five to six hours before departure.
Hong Kong reopens to nine countries
Hong Kong will begin accepting flights from nine countries on the same day it eases route bans. From April 1st, flights from nine countries currently banned from Hong Kong will be permitted – Canada, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Britain, the United States, France, Australia, and the Philippines.
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The epidemic situations in those countries are not worse than Hong Kong’s, and most arrivals did not have serious symptoms. To extend the circuit-breaker will add to the concerns and anxieties of Hong Kong residents stranded there.” Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Chief Executive, said,
Additionally, Hong Kong will ease quarantine rules for arriving travelers. Quarantine times for fully-vaccinated Hong Kong citizens will be reduced from 14 days to seven days, followed by a seven-day home isolation period.
Cases are going down
Hong Kong has been hit hard by the spread of the Omicron variant over the past month, with the country seeing the highest death rate per million in the world. Infections have now fallen to below 10,000 per day for the first time since February 24th.
The country has registered over one million infections and more than 7,000 deaths, most of which have occurred since the emergence of Omicron. Some nationwide restrictions will be eased in phases from April 21st, such as evening restaurant dining and other social distancing measures.
Cre: Simple Flying
Nguyen Mai Huong-COMM
