Omicron variant: Hong Kong tightens entry rules for residents arriving from countries with reported cases as city confirms third infection
- Health officials say all countries with reported infections of the new variant will be moved to highest-risk tier for entry
- Government pandemic adviser says border reopening plan should remain safe if new variants caught before entering city, though others fear strategy may worry Beijing
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee, however, stressed that all three Omicron cases were imported and had been successfully contained, with progress on reopening the border with mainland China not affected.
Travellers from at least nine more countries which had reported Omicron cases, including Canada and Australia, will face stricter entry and quarantine requirements in Hong Kong.
The city’s third Omicron infection involved a 37-year-old man who arrived from Nigeria on Wednesday. He was confirmed with the virus on Sunday.
The man, who had not shown any symptoms, was undergoing quarantine at the Ramada Hong Kong Grand View hotel in North Point before a sample collected on the third day after arrival tested positive for Covid-19.
The other two cases were reported last week.
