Hong Kong to mandate hotel quarantine for cargo aircrew
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Hong Kong will mandate three days of hotel quarantine for returning air cargo crew and is considering making coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for school students as it takes a more aggressive approach to battling a rise in imported Omicron cases.
More details about the recent spate of cases will be revealed at an afternoon press conference addressing the city’s pandemic situation.
Following last week’s announcement that all government workplaces would require full vaccination by mid-February, the Education Bureau is now considering making it mandatory for schools as well, according to a source.
Meanwhile, returning Hong Kong-based cargo aircrew will soon be required to quarantine in a hotel for three days rather than at home, a tightening of measures aimed at stamping out a recent spike in aircrew infections, another source told the Post.
“We’ll have to scramble quickly for hotels,” an aviation insider said of the situation.
Cargo aircrew were, until recently, allowed to quarantine at home throughout, though able to leave for up to two hours a day for Covid-19 testing and to obtain food and other daily essentials. Those rules were tightened last week, limiting them to departing for virus screenings only.
The move to eliminate home quarantine follows the confirmation of a handful of recent infections stemming from aircrew, including two preliminary cases identified on Monday.
Hong Kong on Monday confirmed 14 previously imported cases involving the more transmissible Omicron variant, including 10 identified on Saturday – the most in a single day yet. The other four were identified on Friday.
The city has now recorded 58 Omicron cases.