Hong Kong reclassifies 15 countries as 'high risk' for COVID-19

Hong Kong's government said it would upgrade 15 countries, including the United States, Spain and France, to "high risk" from "medium risk" by August 20, meaning arrivals from these countries will face lengthened quarantine due to a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The government said arrivals from Bangladesh, Cambodia, France, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the US would all face the new restrictions, according to a statement released on Monday.

Hong Kong has some of the most stringent coronavirus entry requirements globally, with arrivals from countries considered "high risk" mandated to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days in a designated hotel, even those who are vaccinated.

The government said there had been acute surges in the number of confirmed cases in a short period of time in many countries. "Despite large-scale vaccination programs, many places are also experiencing resurgence of the virus, which poses enormous challenges to our local anti-epidemic efforts," the statement said.

Australia will be reclassified as "medium risk" from "low risk" from August 20, meaning that even vaccinated arrivals will need to quarantine for 14 nights unless they have a positive antibody test result conducted by a laboratory recognized by the Hong Kong government, which then allows them to do a seven-day quarantine.

Countries, including Brazil, India, and the UK, had already been classified as "high risk."