Hong Kong will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from April 20 for two weeks after the N501Y mutant COVID-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time.
The three countries would be classified as "extremely high risk" after there had been multiple imported cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong in the past 14 days, the government said.
The city reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, 29 of which were imported, marking the highest daily toll since March 15. Hong Kong has recorded over 11,600 cases in total and 209 deaths.
Hong Kong authorities have been urging residents to get vaccinated for coronavirus with only around 9 per cent of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents vaccinated so far.
The government last week widened the city's vaccine scheme to include those aged between 16 to 29 years old for the first time, as they aim to boost lacklustre demand for inoculations amongst residents.
Airlines impacted by Hong Kong's ban on travellers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines include carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, Vistara and Cebu Pacific.
US President Donald Trump held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials continued indirect negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Search teams plodded through muddy riverbanks and flew aircraft over flood-ravaged central Texas as hopes dimmed of finding survivors from a disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives, many of them children.
Four workers were killed and at least 22 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday at a key data centre in Cairo, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson at Egypt's Health Ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump said on Monday the US would send more weapons to Ukraine, primarily defensive ones, to help the war-torn country defend itself against intensifying Russian advances.
Tropical Storm Danas headed for China's eastern seaboard on Tuesday morning, as Zhejiang province braced for landfall after the storm tore through Taiwan with record winds and torrential rain, leaving two dead and over 600 injured.
Every weekday afternoon, Helen Farmer will help you to navigate the highs and lows of life in the UAE. Stay up to date with what’s happening and where to go.
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