Hong Kong lifts flight ban from nine countries   

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Monday that the country will resume international flights from nine countries including the United States and Britain, starting 1 April.  

Hong Kong's government will lift a ban on flights— known as circuit breaker— from nine countries including the United States, India, Britain, France and Australia.

"The circuit-breaker ... is inopportune now," said Carrie Lam during a press conference. 

The flight ban would be lifted from April 1, while hotel quarantine for arrivals could be cut to seven days from 14 if residents tested negative.

However, most social distancing measures and other restrictions will remain in place until April 20 to continue to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Moreover, schools would resume face to face classes from April 19, after the Easter holidays while public venues including sports facilities would also reopen from April 21.

The move is part of a review of the pandemic response flagged by Ms Lam last week, spurred by frustration within the financial and general community.

Hong Kong has imposed flight bans on nine countries, including the US, Britain and Australia.

After the highly transmissible Omicron variant emerged in January, authorities quickly put in place flight bans from eight countries deemed high-risk. But infections climbed rapidly within the finance hub despite tightening social distancing measures, and in three months Hong Kong recorded more than a million cases and 5,600 deaths. 

Hong Kong's border has effectively been shut since 2020 with very few flights able to land and hardly any passengers alowed to transit, effectively isolating a city that had built a reputation as a global financial hub.

The ban had made it very difficult for residents to return to the Chinese ruled territory, with many spending time known as "washing out" in other countries for two weeks before being allowed to return.

The city reported 246 deaths and 14,149 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the lowest daily toll in more than three weeks, down from more than 50,000 a day earlier in the month.