Infectious disease expert Joseph Tsang said Tuesday that the government should pay close attention to arrivals from Europe and consider limiting travel from the continent, a day after the city announced a ban on flights from the UK where a mutated virus strain is spreading.
In an interview on an RTHK program, Tsang said the new strain has already been detected in countries including Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.
“[I] hope the government does not just focus on the UK, but should also pay attention to places in Europe where the strain has spread to,” Tsang said, adding that authorities should expand restrictions accordingly.
Health Secretary Sophia Chan announced Monday afternoon that the city would be halting all flights from the UK in response to the new virus variant. The ban was enforced midnight today, less than 24 hours after the press conference about the tightened travel measures.
The announcement left Hongkongers rushing to London’s Heathrow Airport, hoping to catch the last flights back to the city before the ban.
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According to the city’s Food and Health Bureau, the transmissibility of the mutated virus spotted in the UK is higher than that of the current virus by 70%.
Travelers who returned to Hong Kong after Dec. 2 from the UK will also have to serve an extra week of home quarantine on top of the standard 14-day period in a designated hotel, authorities announced.
The mutated strain has not yet entered Hong Kong, which confirmed 63 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. A ban on restaurant dine-in services past 6pm, and the closure of bars, gyms and other establishments, will be extended through Christmas into the new year as the city continues its fight against the fourth virus wave.
