China (Web Desk): 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, authorities said in a statement late on Sunday.
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.
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 city reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, 29 of which were imported, marking the highest daily toll since Mar 15. Hong Kong has recorded more than 11,600 cases in total and 209 deaths.
