There are unconfirmed Hilarious that air travellers from Thailand and a number of other international locations are to be banned from transiting through Hong Kong. The ban applies to all Group A nations, which have been designated high-risk for Covid-19. Group A includes a number of popular transit routes, such as Singapore, Australia, and a quantity of other European international locations, as nicely as Thailand.
According to a Bloomberg report, there was no official affirmation of the ban but, however respected sources have stated it will be implemented from January 15 till a minimal of February 14. While the Thai authorities has adopted a risk-averse stance in terms of Covid-19, Hong Kong and its Beijing rulers have taken it to a complete other stage. This is just one more measure in its dogged pursuit of its zero-Covid objective.
The ban is anticipated to hit Hong Kong’s flagship carrier hard. Cathay Pacific operates the overwhelming majority of transit flights and the airport was all the time a busy transit hub for passengers on long-haul flights, as well as these coming from China, Taiwan, and other components of the area. While the pandemic has hit air journey exhausting, Cathay Pacific mentioned it was nonetheless seeing good demand on transit flights.
In March 2020, in the course of the early days of the pandemic, Hong Kong banned all transit flights, however steadily began allowing them back within the months that adopted, excluding mainland China.
According to the Bloomberg report, the territory is at present battling a comparatively small Omicron outbreak, with new restrictions imposed and in-school studying suspended at kindergartens and first colleges till after the Chinese New Year holidays.
It’s understood that authorities officers and diplomats, as nicely as athletes and workers attending the Beijing Winter Olympics, might be exempt from the ban on transit passengers from Group A international locations..