Coronavirus: Hong Kong to ban all travellers from Britain, as it puts country back on ‘extremely high-risk’ list
- Move will take effect from Thursday, with anyone who has been in Britain for longer than two hours in past 21 days barred from entering city
- Officials had already tightened quarantine rules from visitors from there, with vaccinated and unvaccinated arrivals all facing three weeks indoors
Hong Kong will put Britain back on its list of “extremely high-risk” countries and ban incoming travellers from Thursday in a bid to keep out Covid-19 variants.
Health authorities on Monday confirmed an earlier Post report on the decision to suspend all passenger flights from Britain, which comes days after the city toughened quarantine rules for visitors.
The suspension means anyone who has stayed there for more than two hours during the past 21 days cannot enter Hong Kong.
Local health authorities had already moved Britain from “high risk” to “very high risk” on Monday, meaning vaccinated travellers would also have to quarantine upon arrival for 21 days, like their unvaccinated counterparts.
In the announcement, officials cited a “recent rebound of the epidemic situation” and the “widespread Delta variant” in Britain, adding it would continue to “closely monitor” other factors, including vaccination progress and passenger volume, to adjust travel restrictions for various countries.
Among those affected was university student Beth Chan, who had considered flying back from Edinburgh to see her family.