On Friday January 14th, Hong Kong Airport announced that from Sunday January 16th, stopovers of passengers from more than 150 countries will be banned. The new measures are being taken to prevent the entry of the coronavirus. The ban will apply for a month and affects all countries classified as “high risk” by the authorities of this city that, in line with Beijing, applies a very cautious strategy against the pandemic.
Hong Kong has already banned access to its territory since January 8 to any passenger who has spent more than two hours in the last 21 days in eight countries (Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United States and the United Kingdom).
Transit through Hong Kong airport will now be impossible for people from all other countries considered “high risk”. They will still be able to enter their territory provided they are vaccinated and undergo a 21-day hotel quarantine.
This decision is a further setback for the Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific, which has already drastically reduced its flights since the start of the pandemic. Many other airlines have already restricted their flights to the city due to lengthy quarantines imposed on passengers and crew.
This ban could have an impact on preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which begin on February 4, as many sports delegations were scheduled to stop over in Hong Kong to travel to the Chinese capital.
Bloomberg news agency, citing unnamed sources, had indicated this week that the transit ban at this airport would not apply to athletes, diplomats and other members of official Olympic delegations. The airport’s statement on Friday does not mention any exceptions.
Along with mainland China, Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world to stick to the “Zero Covid” strategy, which consists in avoiding at all costs the spread of the coronavirus on its territory and in a draconian policy of isolation of sick people and their contacts.
This strategy has enabled the city of 7.5 million inhabitants to record just over 12,000 cases and only 213 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but at a costly price of international isolation for this major world financial center.
