COVID-19: Hong Kong bans UK flights over fears of 'extremely high-risk' Delta variant

Days after barring all international passengers from Indonesia, the Hong Kong administration is set to ban all incoming flights from the United Kingdom starting July 1. At present, Britain is battered with the surge in the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, first discovered in India. Pertaining to the same, the Hong Kong authorities have now enlisted the UK in the “extremely high irks category” of countries, most severe rating for pandemic travel.

"All passenger flights from the UK will be prohibited from landing in Hong Kong," the global financial hub said in a statement.

According to the new rule, all passengers who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours would not be allowed to land in Hong Kong. Later, the Carrie Lam administration confirmed that the decision was made following after the city registered cases related to L452R strain, a further mutation of Delta variant, in people who had come from the UK. The city confirmed its first local Covid case involving the Delta variant last week, ending a 16-day streak of zero local cases.

Hong Kong has registered 11,921 cases, out of whom 211 have died and  11,626 have recovered. As many as 2,17,528 (32 per cent) people in Hong Kong have received at least their first dose while 133,217  (21 per cent) people been fully inoculated, according to Hong Kong Government. A total of 3,612,745 doses have been administered. 

Ban on Indonesia 

Starting June 25, the Hong Kong administration banned passenger flights from Indonesia deeming arrivals from the country as “extremely high risk”. Hong Kong successfully curbed the spread of the deadly contagion initially but has reported multiple imported cases in recent weeks. Additionally, it registered its first local case involving the lethal delta variant last week, sending authorities into alert. At present, Hong Kong has banned flights from India, South Africa, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa, all to curb the transmission of COVID-19 infection on the Chinese control land. 

Image: AP