The Buzz | Hong Kong detects cases of new Covid-19 variant, mulls ban on UK flights

Hong Kong has detected four cases of the U.K. variant of Covid-19, health authorities said in a virtual press briefing yesterday.
Among the cases was a 30-year-old female, a Hong Kong resident, who returned from Manila on December 22, as cited in a Philippine media outlet Rappler.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam yesterday said it is necessary to ban flights from the United Kingdom, where the new virus variant was found, to avoid putting Hong Kong at risk.
“The U.K. and South Africa are now two of the high-risk places because of this new variant in the virus. For a while, many places, not just Hong Kong, have suspended flights from the U.K. because of this worry,” said Lam.
“So if it was almost out of control in the U.K. and the receiving places like Hong Kong – which we do have a lot of returnees from the U.K. accounting for about one third of arrivals at the Hong Kong International Airport – did nothing, you can imagine it would be putting our city at great risk,” the city’s top official added.
The CE noted that the Immigration Department has received about 190 requests for return assistance.