Hong Kong is banning flights from eight countries including Australia as the city prepares to combat a new COVID-19 outbreak fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says the government will introduce a series of measures to curb the spread of the virus, as she warned the global financial hub was on the verge of another outbreak.
The new rules include a ban on flights from eight countries for two weeks from January 8, effecting Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Philippines, France and India.
Lam was speaking as Hong Kong authorities launched a city-wide search for the contacts of a COVID-19 patient and ordered a Royal Caribbean "cruise to nowhere" ship to return to port early, as health officials feared a fifth wave of infections.Â