London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Hong Kong logs 25 imported Covid-19 cases as Cathay gets 2-week ban on London route

Hong Kong logs 25 imported Covid-19 cases as Cathay gets 2-week ban on London route

Of the 25 cases, nine are from Britain and flew on a Cathay Pacific flight on December 23. The infections have resulted in bans on certain routes operated by Cathay, Korean Air and Emirates Airlines.

Hong Kong confirmed 25 imported Covid-19 cases on Saturday, triggering the most number of airline bans in a single day.

Authorities announced they would stop Cathay Pacific flights from London, Korean Air services from Seoul and Emirates Airlines flights from Dubai for two weeks each after passengers they brought into the city were confirmed to be infected.

Of the 25 cases, 10 have been designated a strain that is consistent with the Omicron variant, but yet to be formally confirmed by authorities.

Infected passengers arrived from 11 countries, with Britain accounting for nine cases, Kazakhstan five, and India and Pakistan two apiece. South Africa, Russia and the United States were among countries the others arrived from.

Fewer than 10 preliminary-positive infections were also reported, with confirmation expected on Sunday.

Seven of the British arrivals flew with Cathay on Thursday, the day the airline imposed a preflight antigen test to try to avoid a ban, which ultimately failed.

Hong Kong’s flagship airline said it subsequently suspended flights from London’s Heathrow Airport for two weeks starting on Sunday until January 8. With Virgin Atlantic and British Airways flights currently halted, this means services from the British capital are on hold until next year.

“Due to recent government restrictions, we unfortunately must announce cancellations for all flights departing from London Heathrow to Hong Kong, from December 26 up until January 8, 2022,” Cathay wrote on its Facebook page.

During the pandemic, Cathay has operated up to one flight a day, a far cry from the five daily services before the coronavirus outbreak.

The government also confirmed bans for Emirates, triggered by two positive cases and one passenger with incorrect paperwork, and Korean Air, which carried five Hong Kong karate athletes from Kazakhstan via Seoul.

A Cathay cabin crew member, who returned to Hong Kong from Sydney via flight CX138 on Christmas Eve also tested positive, carrying a mutated strain – highly likely to be Omicron – based on information provided by the government.

Omicron is the fastest-growing Covid-19 strain around the world. Experts say, however, the highly infectious variant is also generating much milder symptoms among patients.

Hong Kong has confirmed 44 Omicron cases – all imported – since the first such infection was recorded in late November.

Genome sequencing also confirmed that the infection of a 64-year-old airport worker, who cleaned a toilet designated for arrivals who tested preliminary-positive, was import-related. It was identical to an earlier imported case and highly similar to previous ones involving Omicron.

Saturday’s infection tally was the highest since April 18, when 30 cases, all imported also, were recorded.

Around the world, airlines cancelled more than 4,500 flights over the Christmas weekend, resulting in greater uncertainty and misery for holiday travellers. Many of the cancellations were a result of rising Covid-19 infections among aircrew and a lack of staff to operate flights.

An electronic board at Hong Kong International Airport shows flights from London being cancelled.


To limit the number of imported cases, the government announced on Monday that any airline bringing in at least four coronavirus-positive passengers within a seven-day period would be barred from flying that route for two weeks.

It was the latest addition to the city’s stringent flight suspension mechanism, which triggers bans when three passengers on the same flight test positive, or where there is at least one infected traveller on the same service as another with incorrect paperwork.

The latest cancellations, with limited explanations from the airlines, once again left travellers scrambling to find alternative flights.

Traveller Matthew Burgess wrote on a Facebook group that after his CX252 flight from London on December 29 was cancelled, he planned to take the Manchester-to-Hong Kong route operated by Cathay Pacific on New Year’s Eve.

“But I’ve had to go on a waitlist and they’ll let me know after Christmas,” he said on the HK Quarantine Support Group page.

An Emirates passenger who asked not to be identified said he had planned to catch the EK384 flight in the first week of January but only found out about the cancellation from an airline email on Friday. He is still searching for a new flight while trying not to change the booking of his quarantine hotel.

“So the thing is there was no information given as to why the flight had been cancelled. There were no reports from the government or some sort,” he said.

“There is a lot of uncertainty … That adds to the headache of not being able to know if I will be flying back.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×