Now Is Not The Right Time To Lift Flight Ban: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday that now is not the right time to lift a ban imposed on passenger flights from several countries due to the Covid pandemic.

Last month, the authorities said that incoming flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States would be prohibited until April 20, to help prevent imported Covid infections.

People who spent more than two hours in any of these places in the previous 14 days are also barred from entry into Hong Kong.

At a new daily pandemic press conference, Lam was asked whether she would consider lifting the flight ban, given that imported cases only account for a tiny fraction of the territory's tens of thousands of new infections each day.

“At the moment, Hong Kong is right at the most critical juncture of fighting the epidemic... this is not the time to immediately lift the ban because as a result a lot of people will rush to come back. Inevitably there will be infected cases coming back ... that will add a lot of pressure to our public hospital system,” she replied.

“Hong Kong is already under extreme stress right now ... I have to protect the health of my colleagues, especially those at the frontline. But I can tell you that we have plans... we will certainly have plans and a pathway to open up Hong Kong again.”

Lam also defended the government’s decision to send out an emergency alert to people’s mobile devices on Wednesday, informing the public that Queen Elizabeth Hospital has been turned into a Covid-only treatment facility.

“I am aware that some people in society thought this was a good idea...They said they are happy to get news from the government through this channel,” she said.

“We are clearly in a public health emergency situation right now. The Accident and Emergency Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital is the most busy A&E unit in Hong Kong and it is visited by many many people. It is very important to tell people not to go there.”

Lam also said that the government is pushing full steam ahead for isolation and quarantine facilities to be built on seven more sites, including a plot at the Lok Ma Chau Loop.

While such facilities in Tsing Yi and San Tin have already been completed and recently came into service, the rest – in places like Hung Shui Kiu, Fanling and Kai Tak – will be ready over the coming months.

The CE said the government’s priority right now is to make sure that Covid patients are isolated and treated in a timely manner to prevent the virus from spreading further.

The development minister, Michael Wong, said with the conversion of public housing blocks, transitional housing and more than 30 hotels into isolation facilities, more than 70,000 units and beds will be made available for people with Covid over the next couple of months.

Security chief Chris Tang said these facilities will be managed in a “humane manner”, with a variety of different food menus on offer, as well as free newspapers, toys and a reliable internet network for people staying there.

Cleaners will also be on duty around the clock to maintain the hygiene of these facilities.

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