Hong Kong airport bans transit passengers from 153 nations Amid Covid Surge

Hong Kong airport says transit flights from high-risk countries will be suspended over COVID from January 16 to February 15.

Passengers from 153 nations have been banned from transiting through Hong Kong airport, in the latest tightening of the city’s strict anti-virus travel measures.

Passengers who have stayed in over 150 places deemed “high risk” in the last 21 days, including the United States and Britain, will be banned from transiting in Hong Kong from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15, according to a notice posted by the airport.

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The ban comes as the city grapples with an omicron outbreak, with most of the cases traced to two crew members of Cathay Pacific who had broken isolation rules and dined at restaurants and bars in the city before testing positive.

Over 50 local infections have been reported in the community since the end of 2021. Prior to that, Hong Kong went three months with no community transmissions and had been in talks with the mainland to resume quarantine-exempted travel with the rest of China.

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Elsewhere, the Australian government on Friday cancelled Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time, saying the world tennis No 1, unvaccinated for COVID-19, may pose a risk to the community.'

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