It said during a statement Monday that the united kingdom has been classified as “extremely high risk“ due to the “recent rebound of the epidemic situation within the UK and therefore the widespread delta variant virus strain there”.
Under the classification, people that have stayed within the UK for quite two hours are going to be restricted from boarding passenger flights to Hong Kong .
It is the second time that the Hong Kong government has banned flights from the united kingdom , following a restriction imposed last December.
The ban comes amid heightened tensions between the united kingdom and China over semi-autonomous Hong Kong , which was a British colony until it had been handed over to China in 1997.
The UK has criticised China for imposing a national security law on Hong Kong and tightening control over its media, saying Beijing is undermining the city's autonomy.
The flight ban was triggered by a policy put in situ by the govt to stop coronavirus variants from spreading in Hong Kong .
A suspension of passenger flights is imposed if five or more passengers coming back from one place test positive on arrival for a specific coronavirus variant, or a relevant virus mutation within a seven-day period.
A ban is is additionally triggered if 10 or more passengers from one place are confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus via any tests, including tests conducted during quarantine, within a seven-day period.
The UK flight ban comes as Hong Kong is looking to relax quarantine measures for many other countries, including the US and Canada.
Several other countries, including the Philippines and Indonesia, also face flight bans to Hong Kong .
