Hong Kong fourth wave: airport Covid-19 tests to take no more than four hours, halving original time, closing flight ban loophole

Changes enabled by a new laboratory, ensuring same-day results and faster response time to penalise carriers bringing in infected passengers

Tighter restrictions mean anyone who has been to Britain for more than two hours within 21 days of boarding flight will be prevented from flying into Hong Kong

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Inbound travellers are screened for the virus upon arrival at the airport. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 9:00am, 25 Dec 2020Updated: 12:24pm, 25 Dec 2020

Hong Kong health authorities have said it will take no more than four hours to analyse Covid-19 swabs of airport arrivals, halving the original time and effectively closing a loophole that allowed airlines to escape a ban for bringing in infected passengers.

The changes, which took effect on Thursday and were enabled by a new laboratory at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), meant coronavirus test results were more likely to be returned on the same day, said Chinese University’s Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a government adviser on the pandemic.

Previously, results would take eight hours or more, and travellers who arrived in the afternoon or later had to wait overnight at a holding hotel.

The slow processing time of airport tests came under the spotlight after Qatar Airways avoided a two-week ban from HKIA on a technicality, as some travellers failed to receive same-day results, preventing authorities from enforcing prompt punishment on the carrier.

The government confirmed to the Post on Thursday that the new Covid-19 PCR lab set-up “has a shorter turnaround time, and the new arrangement is expected to reduce travellers’ waiting time for test results to less than four hours in general”.

Inbound travellers are screened for the virus upon arrival at HKIA, with medical professionals taking nasal and throat swab samples for analysis.

Britain is off-limits for the time being. Photo: Nora Tam