hong kong | Air passengers from 153 countries will no longer be able to transit through Hong Kong to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the city’s airport announced on Friday.
This suspension, which concerns all countries classified as “high risk” health by the Hong Kong authorities, will take effect on Sunday for a period of one month. It aims to “control the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19,” the airport said on its website.
Hong Kong has already prohibited access to its territory, since January 8, to any passenger who has stayed more than two hours in the last 21 days in eight countries (Australia, Canada, United States, France, India, Pakistan, Philippines , UK).
Transit through Hong Kong airport will now be impossible for people coming from all other countries deemed to be “high risk”. Entering Hong Kong will remain possible for them provided they are vaccinated and subject to 21 days of quarantine.
Along with mainland China, Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world to cling to the “zero Covid” strategy, consisting of avoiding the spread of the coronavirus on its territory at all costs and a draconian policy of isolation. patients and their contacts.
This strategy has allowed the city of 7.5 million people to register just over 12,000 cases and only 213 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but at the cost of costly international isolation for this major global financial center.
The authorities have been on a war footing since the appearance of a small outbreak of local contamination in Omicron in a restaurant, which triggered massive testing campaigns, frantic tracing of contact cases, the closure of bars, sports facilities, schools, cinemas and museums and a curfew for restaurants from 6 p.m.