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Hong Kong has extended its ban on all commercial flights from the UK and South Africa until further notice to protect itself from the newer and more infectious strains of Covid-19 detected in both countries, describing the situation in Britain as “grim.”
“The epidemic situation around the world remains dire, with cases of the newest variant of the most communicable virus detected in a growing number of places,” a government statement said Thursday night.
“The situation in the UK, where the new variant of the virus was first discovered, has deteriorated further in the last two weeks. England is blocked again until mid-February, and the short-term outlook is bleak. “
The UK reported more than 60,000 new infections on two consecutive days this week as authorities struggled to contain the highly infectious mutation. The country has been under a national blockade since Monday, and on Thursday parliament passed legislation allowing the new measures to be extended for at least three months.
South Africa on Thursday reported its highest daily figure of 20,999 cases.
“After reviewing the latest epidemic developments globally and in relevant places, the Government considers it necessary to maintain the measure to restrict shipment to Hong Kong to people who have stayed in the United Kingdom and South Africa,” the statement read. release.
The mandatory 21-day quarantine is also maintained for people arriving in Hong Kong from anywhere outside of China.
Both measures will be reviewed every two weeks.
The government on Thursday defended the extension of the measures, saying it was necessary to protect the city from an outbreak of the most infectious mutations. Hong Kong people are among those prohibited from returning.
“The Government recognizes that the above requirement is very strict and may inevitably affect the return travel of various Hong Kong residents to the UK or South Africa,” said a spokesman.
“We simply cannot afford to relax the relevant restrictions at this juncture, lest the anti-epidemic efforts of the entire community go down the drain.”
Hong Kong remains one of the few jurisdictions that prohibits the return of its own citizens.
‘Sporadic’ community broadcasts
Hong Kong has reported 15 imported cases of the mutation from the UK, 13 of which were imported by people who had traveled from Britain. The city has detected two cases of the South African mutation.
The city reported 45 new cases on Friday, all but three from local sources. Of the local cases, 22 came from untraceable sources. The Director of Communicable Diseases at the Center for Health Protection, Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan, said the number of untraceable cases indicates the presence of undetected silent chains of transmission within the community.
“Most of [the untraceable cases] They do not have a defined mass meeting, mainly, they are sporadic. This also means that there may be other silent transmissions … other cases that we are not yet aware of in the community, ”he said.
