HONG KONG: Hong Kong will suspend flights from Pakistan, India, and the Philippines from April 20 for two weeks after the N501Y mutant Covid-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time, authorities said in a statement late on Sunday.
The N501Y substitution is one of eight spike protein substitutions present in the UK variant and has also appeared convergently in Brazil (P.1) and South Africa (B.1.351) variants.
The three countries would be classified as “extremely high risk” after there had been multiple imported cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong in the past 14 days, the government said.
The city reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, 29 of which were imported, marking the highest daily toll since March 15. Hong Kong has recorded over 11,600 cases in total and 209 deaths.
Hong Kong authorities have been urging residents to get vaccinated for coronavirus with only around 9 percent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents vaccinated so far.
The government last week widened the city’s vaccine scheme to include those aged between 16 to 29 years old for the first time, as they aim to boost lackluster demand for inoculations among residents.
Airlines impacted by Hong Kong’s ban on travelers from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines include carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, Vistara, and Cebu Pacific.
