More Flights Banned As HK Logs 25 New Imported Cases

Health authorities on Saturday announced the banning of Cathay Pacific, Korea Air and Emirates from operating flights to Hong Kong from London, Seoul, Bangkok and Dubai for 14 days after a number of passengers they carried tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival.

This came as Hong Kong recorded 25 additional imported coronavirus cases.

Health officials said the latest cases involve 14 men and 11 women, aged between 21 and 80. They travelled to Hong Kong from 11 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and South Africa.

Officials said compulsory testing orders will be served at the homes of and places visited by four of the patients, because they were in Hong Kong during the incubation period.

They involve two karate athletes who live in Ho Pui Tsuen in Kam Tin and the Hong Kong Sports Institute, while the other two, a flight attendant and a 79-year-old woman, live in Tai Mei Tuk village in Tai Po, and Wing Fai Centre in Fanling.

Meanwhile, the number of Omicron Covid variant cases recorded in Hong Kong has risen to 44, after genome sequencing confirmed three patients were infected with the highly transmissible variant.

Officials also said they now believed an airport toilet cleaner who came down with the disease earlier this week was infected by a traveller from Ghana, as their virus genomes were identical.

The cleaner's case has been classified as an import-related case.