As the spread of delta variant of Covid in UK, Honk Kong is planning to ban all the incoming flights. UK considered to be “extremely high-risk” country in Hong Kong in terms of pandemic travel.
The ban of incoming flights from Britain is said to come into effect from July 1.
It also comes at a time when China and the West are at odds over a crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong.
People who have recently spent more than two hours in the United Kingdom will not be allowed to board flights to Hong Kong from any airport, according to the ban.
The decision was made due to the “recent rebound” of the pandemic in the UK and the “widespread Delta variant virus strain of Covid” in the country, according to the city’s officials.
There are approximately 8 daily nonstop flights from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong, all departing from London.
The flights from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom are not affected by the upcoming ban.
Last week, Hong Kong confirmed its first local Delta variant, breaking a 16-day streak of zero local cases.
Since 2020, the city has had some of the strictest border controls in the world, which has helped keep infection rates low throughout the pandemic.
Whereas UK is currently experiencing highest number of daily cases in Europe, despite high vaccination rates.
According to the news agency Reuters, parents in Hong Kong with children studying in the United Kingdom have expressed their dismay at the prospect of their children being stranded abroad.
The flight ban, which is to begin on July 1, is the second time Hong Kong has halted arrivals from the United Kingdom, following a ban that lasted from December 2020 to May of this year. Due to an increase in Delta strain cases, Hong Kong has already banned flights from Indonesia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
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