Hong Kong to ban flights from the Philippines, India, Pakistan

Hong Kong International Airport Arrivals Hall.

Photographer: Justin Chin / Bloomberg

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Hong Kong will ban flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines for 14 days from April 20, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

A circuit-breaking agreement is being launched for each of the countries because there have been five or more arrivals with the N501Y mutant coronavirus strain within seven days, the government said. Under the mechanism, the three countries will be designated as “extremely risky”.

This comes after Hong Kong reported the first two virus variants in the community over the weekend.

Related: Quarantine in Hong Kong 81 tenants after the mutant strain found

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