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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Arrivals flood quarantine hotels
Quarantine hotels are fully booked until the end of the month as Hongkongers in high-risk areas are now able to return home.
Nine flights from high-risk countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Philippines and Indonesia, landed in Hong Kong yesterday on the first day that the SAR government reclassified Covid-19 risk assessments into low, medium and high.
Countries that were previously listed as extremely or very high risk are now classified as high risk. Hongkongers arriving from such countries can now return after being fully vaccinated and undergoing 21-day hotel quarantine.
Three out of the nine flights that landed in Hong Kong yesterday were from the UK, another three were from the Philippines and the remainder were from India and Indonesia.
All quarantine hotels reached by The Standard yesterday said they were fully booked as returnees flood into the city. The Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City said no rooms were available until August 29.
The Bridal Tea House Hotel in Hung Hom said the earliest vacancies would be on August 28 and the Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View hotel in Sai Ying Pun said August 27.
All rooms at the Metropark Hotel Kowloon were fully booked for August, the hotel said. Customers can book a room only after September 5.
There are 37 designated quarantine hotels, providing 10,000 rooms for overseas arrivals.
Tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Si-wing said yesterday there would be fewer arrivals from those high-risk countries compared with June because many students wanted to return to Hong Kong for the summer holiday at that time.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded two imported cases from Romania and Russia yesterday, taking the SAR's tally to 12,016 cases, with 212 deaths.
The man from Romania, 39, had received both doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on April 15 and May 6, and tested positive for antibodies last month.
The other case is a seven-month-old baby girl from Russia. She carries the L452R mutation, which is linked to Covid-19 variants, including the highly infectious Delta strain.
The government also announced yesterday that seniors aged 60 or above will be able to get vaccinated without an appointment as the same-day tickets for vaccination will be expanded to cover them starting tomorrow.
About 4,600 tickets will be distributed from 7.45am on a first-come, first-served basis every day, it said.
Countries that were previously listed as extremely or very high risk are now classified as high risk. Hongkongers arriving from such countries can now return after being fully vaccinated and undergoing 21-day hotel quarantine.
Three out of the nine flights that landed in Hong Kong yesterday were from the UK, another three were from the Philippines and the remainder were from India and Indonesia.
All quarantine hotels reached by The Standard yesterday said they were fully booked as returnees flood into the city. The Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City said no rooms were available until August 29.
The Bridal Tea House Hotel in Hung Hom said the earliest vacancies would be on August 28 and the Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View hotel in Sai Ying Pun said August 27.
All rooms at the Metropark Hotel Kowloon were fully booked for August, the hotel said. Customers can book a room only after September 5.
There are 37 designated quarantine hotels, providing 10,000 rooms for overseas arrivals.
Tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Si-wing said yesterday there would be fewer arrivals from those high-risk countries compared with June because many students wanted to return to Hong Kong for the summer holiday at that time.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded two imported cases from Romania and Russia yesterday, taking the SAR's tally to 12,016 cases, with 212 deaths.
The man from Romania, 39, had received both doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on April 15 and May 6, and tested positive for antibodies last month.
The other case is a seven-month-old baby girl from Russia. She carries the L452R mutation, which is linked to Covid-19 variants, including the highly infectious Delta strain.
The government also announced yesterday that seniors aged 60 or above will be able to get vaccinated without an appointment as the same-day tickets for vaccination will be expanded to cover them starting tomorrow.
About 4,600 tickets will be distributed from 7.45am on a first-come, first-served basis every day, it said.
