Qatar Airways’ route from Doha to Hong Kong put on hold until early January

Qatar Airways’ route from Doha to Hong Kong put on hold until early January

New travel rules to curb the spread of omicron in Hong Kong look set to isolate the Asian financial hub even further, with at least four international carriers banned from operating certain routes in the month since the more transmissible variant emerged. Although Hong Kong was already hewing to the Covid-zero policy being pursued by China, authorities tightened rules again this week, mandating that if four or more passengers are confirmed to have Covid-19 on arrival from the same place within seven days, that route will be suspended for 14 days. Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific Airways have had routes from Doha and New York, respectively, put on hold until early January, while Nepal Airlines and Air India flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu and Delhi have also been impacted. Hong Kong found its first omicron cases on November 25. The highly-contagious variant is now the most dominant strain in several major cities around the world, making the chance of identifying more cases upon arrival at airports significantly higher. A cleaner at the airport was Friday suspected to have been infected with omicron, in what could be the city’s first case in someone who hasn’t recently travelled. Hong Kong has