Hong Kong bans flights from India, Pakistan and Philippines amid coronavirus

Hong Kong will suspend flights from Pakistan, India, and the Philippines for two weeks from April 20.

As per the details, the decision has been taken as the N501Y mutant COVID-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time.

Hong Kong government said that the three countries would be classified as “extremely high risk” after multiple cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong were reported in the last 14 days.

Thirty new cases were reported on Sunday, 29 of which were imported. The city has reported over 11,600 cases in total and 2019 deaths.

Residents have been asked to get coronavirus vaccines as only around 9 percent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people have been vaccinated so far.

Airlines affected by Hong Kong’s travel ban from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines include carriers such as Cathay Pacific (0293.HK), Hong Kong Airlines, Vistara, and Cebu Pacific (CEB.PS).

Earlier, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has on Sunday removed the United Kingdom (UK) from the list of travel restricted countries amidst the sharp rise of new COVID strain across the globe.

According to the notification issued by PCAA, Pakistan removes the UK from the list of travel restricted countries and has been removed from category C of the banned countries and included in category B.