How One Flight From Delhi Resulted In Suspension Of Air Travel From India To Hong Kong

Amid the rapid spread of COIVD-19 in India and reports of the Indian strain of the mutant virus being detected in other countries, Hong Kong has suspended air travel from India for two weeks.

The flight suspension will come into effect on Tuesday and will be in place for the next two weeks.

According to reports, the decision was taken after as many as 47 passengers who went to Hong Kong on an Air Vistara flight from Delhi on April tested positive for the virus during the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Air Vistara

What happened?

Local media reports said that all the 188 passengers on board the flight had COVID-19 negative certificates issued within 72 hours of travel as mandated, but many tested positive during the quarantine period.

What is even scarier is that some of them tested positive for COVID-19 as late as 12 days after landing in Hong Kong.

This was the first time Hong Kong, which is administered by China is reporting the discovery of the N501Y mutant strain there.

Along with India, flights from Pakistan and the Philippines have also been suspended by Hong Kong for the next two weeks.

AFP

“With confirmed cases involving the N501Y mutant strain detected for the first time in the community in Hong Kong, for prudence’s sake, the government has applied the criteria of the newly implemented place-specific flight suspension mechanism retrospectively for 14 days on places where there had been imported cases confirmed by arrival tests that carried the N501Y mutant strain. India, Pakistan, and the Philippines all had seven-day cumulative number of relevant cases that reached the relevant criteria in the past 14 days, and the government will therefore invoke the place-specific flight suspension mechanism for these three places,” a government statement said.

Densely populated Hong Kong was one of the first places to be hit by the coronavirus, but the tough entry conditions, strict social distancing measures and universal mask wearing have helped keep infections to just over 11,000 with 209 deaths.

Around 9.8 percent of the city's 7.5 million population have been vaccinated so far.

Reuters

On Monday, the UK imposed travel restrictions on air passengers coming from India.

India was added in the 'Red List' of countries, or those countries, whose citizens can not freely travel to the UK.

Reports quoted UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock terming the decision as a difficult but vital one to make.

As per norms, non-UK or Irish citizens will not be allowed to enter the European country post early morning on Friday.

Presently, Vistara, Air India, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways operate flights between the two countries.