Hong Kong bans flights from India, Pakistan and Philippines for two weeks

As per sources, the decision came after the N501Y mutant COVID-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time, while 50 passengers of two Vistara flights this month tested positive for coronavirus on arrival.

Airlines impacted by Hong Kong's ban on travelers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines include Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, Vistara and Cebu Pacific.

These countries would be classified as extremely high risk after there had been multiple imported cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong in the past two weeks. However, the flights from these three countries have been suspended for the aforementioned time period.

According to country’s law all passengers who want to come to Hong Kong need to have a Covid-negative RTPCR result with them which should be at least 72 hours prior to the journey.

Meanwhile, the city reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, 29 of which were imported.

Hong Kong has recorded over 11,600 cases in total.

The government last week widened the vaccine scheme to include those aged between 16 to 29 years old for the first time and only 9% of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents have been vaccinated so far.