Flights from India banned here as Omicron threat shuts down Asia's financial hub

Hong Kong announced strict measures including a selective ban on flights as the threat of Omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate. The city will ban dining-in after 6 p.m., close some venues including bars and gyms, eliminate large-scale events and halt all flights from eight countries.

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India, US are among the 8 eight countries where flights will be halted from along with Australia, Canada, France, Pakistan, the Philippines and the U.K.

“We have to grasp this very critical moment,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Wednesday. “We have to contain the pandemic to ensure that there won’t be a major outbreak in the community again. In a sense, we are racing with omicron.”

Hong Kong is one of the only places in the world that did not experience a delta outbreak as it maintained a strict Covid Zero policy.