Hong Kong suspends SIA flights from Singapore after passengers test positive for COVID-19

By TIN Media | Asean News Published 2 years ago on 18 February 2022
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SINGAPORE:

Flights between Singapore and Hong Kong have been halted for two weeks after numerous passengers tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in the city.

According to an SIA spokeswoman on Thursday, the directive came from Hong Kong regulators after certain SIA passengers who had tested negative for COVID-19 in their pre-departure testing later tested positive when they arrived in Hong Kong (Feb 17).

SQ882 and SQ894, Singapore Airlines' two daily passenger services from Singapore to Hong Kong, will be suspended till March 1. The suspension went into effect on February 16th.

The twice-daily passenger services from Hong Kong to Singapore, SQ883, and SQ895 are unaffected.

"SIA apologizes to all clients who have been inconvenienced," the spokeswoman said.

"We're contacting them to give any support that may be required and to minimize the interruption caused by this incident."

In April of last year, SIA was also briefly barred from flying from Singapore to Hong Kong after failing to meet one of the city's COVID-19 testing standards.

Hong Kong has implemented China's zero-COVID-19 plan for more than two years, but a wave of the highly transmissible Omicron virus subtype has wreaked havoc on the city's testing, quarantine, and treatment capabilities.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong's health authorities announced a new high of 4,285 confirmed new infections and another 7,000 preliminary positive cases, up from roughly 100 daily instances at the beginning of February but still lower than in other comparable-sized large cities.

Before the new outbreak, Hong Kong had seen slightly over 12,000 cases since the outbreak began.

Singapore announced the establishment of a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) with Hong Kong on Wednesday, allowing fully vaccinated travelers to travel without quarantine. The VTL goes into effect on February 25.

Singapore recorded 16,883 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. There were also 13 deaths, the most since December 5.


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