Hong Kong no longer allowing non-resident Canadian arrivals

Hong Kong will no longer allow non-residents arriving from Canada to enter the country starting Thursday, as the country fights to slow the spread of the new Omicron variant.

Non-residents who travelled to Canada in the past 21 days will be barred from entering the country, while Hong Kong residents will be required to quarantine at a designated hotel for 21 days upon arrival and must be tested for COVID-19.

Hong Kong residents can only board a flight travelling to Hong Kong if they have been fully vaccinated and carry record of their vaccination status.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Israel and Italy are also subject to the same restrictions starting Thursday. They join Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zambia, which have similar travel bans that went into effect on Tuesday. Hong Kong will also ban travellers from Japan, Portugal, and Sweden starting Friday.

Hong Kong has already banned non-residents arriving from eight countries in southern Africa: Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Hong Kong’s announcement about the expanded travel ban for non-residents entering from Canada came just a day after Canada announced its first two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant. As of Tuesday, seven cases of the Omicron variant of concern had been confirmed in Canada.

The latest COVID-19 variant was first identified by scientists in South Africa. It has now been reported that Omicron was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa made its discovery. The World Health Organization (WHO) labelled it a variant of concern on Nov. 26.

For Kevin Chui, a dual-citizen living in Toronto, the travel ban has separated his family by more than 12,000 kilometres.

Hong Kong’s ban on non-resident travellers from Canada disrupted his wife’s plans to visit. On Oct. 19, prior to the global community sounding the alarm on Omicron, Chui travelled to Hong Kong for work and to visit family. Because Chui flew prior to Canada’s new travel rules that took effect this week, Chui was required to take a pre-flight PCR test before he boarded the plane in Toronto.

Upon arrival to Hong Kong, Chui said it was a “lengthy process,” and spent six hours in the Hong Kong International Airport. Travellers must receive a negative COVID result to leave the airport, he said.

Chui said he was then transported to a designated quarantine hotel. In total, with a transfer flight in the U.K., Chui had to take seven COVID-19 PCR tests.

“I would say they’re a bit nervous about COVID. In Hong Kong, the party (Hong Kong SAR) wants to align with Mainland China. The goal is to achieve zero cases here,” Chui told the Star.