HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government said today it will implement "the most stringent" COVID-19 quarantine and testing requirements for arrivals from the United States starting Monday, after a man travelling from the US to Hong Kong earlier this week was found to be carrying the Omicron variant.
Inbound travellers from the US will stay at the Penny's Bay quarantine centre for the first seven days of their three-week isolation and get tested every day, before they'll spend the next 14 days under hotel quarantine.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government is adding Cuba, Kuwait and Liechtenstein to the Group A high-risk regions starting Monday, as Omicron cases were identified in those countries.
Only Hong Kong residents with recognised vaccination records from these places will be allowed entry. Upon arrival, they will have to undergo 21 days of quarantine at a hotel and tested six times.
A government spokesman said in a statement that "the most stringent inbound prevention and control measures in the world" that Hong Kong has in place has warded off the Omicron variant.
"All five imported Omicron cases recorded so far were detected while the inbound travellers were undergoing stringent quarantine and testing measures. The relevant cases and their close contacts had been isolated immediately so that they would not have any contact with the community," the statement read.
As of today, Hong Kong's COVID-19 tally stands at 12,483, including 213 deaths, according to worldometers.info. Hong Kong has a population of 7.5 million.
– RTHK, MPD
