Coronavirus: first Nepal Airlines flight to Hong Kong since ban brings nine of city’s 11 new Covid-19 cases, while local resident adds to untraceable tally

Health officials confirm the national carrier will once again be barred from Hong Kong for two weeks after incident on first flight back in action

The sole local coronavirus infection, meanwhile, belongs to a Tung Chung woman who tested negative twice during quarantine and visited several restaurants

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Nepal Airlines has been banned from flying to Hong Kong for the second time this month after bringing nine more passengers who tested positive for Covid-19. Photo: Shutterstock.

Published: 12:13pm, 22 Oct 2020Updated: 11:20pm, 22 Oct 2020

Nine passengers arriving on a Nepal Airlines flight and a returning resident who twice tested negative during quarantine were among Hong Kong’s 11 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, prompting authorities to ban the carrier yet again, just four days after it completed a two-week suspension.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, confirmed at a press conference that flights from Nepal’s national airline would be barred for another two weeks, through November 4.

“The nine cases were not related, except they [were] on the same flight to Hong Kong,” she said of those arriving on Nepal Airlines RA4009. It was the carrier’s first flight to the city since being banned on October 3 after six passengers tested positive upon arrival.

Thursday’s other imported case was from Pakistan, while the sole local infection, which authorities have been unable to trace, helped push the city’s overall tally to 5,280, with 105 related deaths. Fewer than 10 people tested preliminary positive.

Chuang said the local patient, a 38-year-old woman, travelled to Italy and Switzerland about a month ago, but concluded a September 16-29 quarantine after returning and tested negative for the virus twice during that period.