Like mainland China, Hong Kong maintains some of the strictest restrictions in the world in the fight against a pandemic, including closed borders, weeks of quarantine regimes and massive testing.
In Hong Kong, 114 cases of omicrons were recorded on Tuesday, most of which were detected at the airport during the 21-day quarantine period, which is mandatory for most entrants.
However, in recent days, a small outbreak of omicron has also been discovered among Cathay Pacific employees, which has led to new strict restrictions.
Hong Kong leader Kerry Lama said officials were concerned that the omicron was spreading unnoticed.
“We have cases whose sources have been identified, but not the route of infection,” the Lama told reporters.
Flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States will be banned for two weeks from midnight to Saturday.
In Hong Kong, major public events will be lifted and more than a dozen businesses will be closed from Friday, including bars, nightclubs, gyms and beauty salons.
The restaurants will only be able to serve visitors until 18:00.
All cruise ship trips have also been canceled. Today, a ship with 3,700 passengers and crew returned to the port. Nine of these people have been in contact with a person with an omicron, so everyone on board will be tested for Covid-19.
In Hong Kong during the pandemic, even during weeks when no new local cases of Covid-19 were detected, masks were mandatory and no more than four people were allowed to gather in the community, and quotas for restaurant visitors remained.
These restrictions have eroded the tourism and hospitality sector and limited the ability of multinational companies to recruit new talent.
In the catering sector, 2020 was a turbulent year, but it recovered to a large extent last year as residents actively visited local restaurants and hotels.
The Lama has expressed the view that travel routes with mainland China should be resumed first and only then with the rest of the world. However, little progress has been made in this area.
Hong Kong’s opening up to the world has also been limited by the fact that only 70% of Hong Kong’s population have received a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine and even fewer elderly people have been vaccinated.
