Coronavirus: stunned travellers in scramble for flights, quarantine hotels after Hong Kong’s sudden rules change

Name: New Zealand implements national lockdown over one Covid-19 case
Uploaded: 2021-08-19T01:30:21.000Z
Duration: 2 min 8 s
Description: New Zealand implements national lockdown over one Covid-19 case

Hundreds of travellers are struggling to rebook flights and quarantine hotels following policy U-turn

Under revised rules, 15 countries are being added to high-risk category, which requires arrivals to undergo 21 days of quarantine

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Hundreds of travellers have to rebook flights and quarantine hotels following the policy U-turn. Photo: Nora Tam

Kathleen Magramo

Published: 9:30am, 19 Aug 2021Updated: 10:55pm, 19 Aug 2021

Mehmood Mazhar was in panic mode this week when Hong Kong announced sudden changes to Covid-19 quarantine rules for inbound travellers, delaying his start at a local university by at least a month.

The 19-year-old international bachelor’s student from Pakistan had planned to complete a 21-day “washout” period in Uzbekistan then fly to the city via transit hubs in Turkey or the United Arab Emirates.

“I had been preparing for two months identifying the routes and rules, but in an instant it all went to dust as my transit airport is in Turkey,” Mazhar said.

“I’d have to redirect my flights, but to my horror, there are absolutely no flights in the coming weeks going through non-high-risk countries.”

02:08

New Zealand implements national lockdown over one Covid-19 case

Under the revised rules, Turkey and the UAE are among 15 countries being added to the high-risk category from Friday, joining the likes of Britain, France and Pakistan on the Group A list that requires arrivals to undergo 21 days of quarantine.