Hong Kong to impose 14-day quarantine for vaccinated travelers from Vietnam

The decision, which would be effective from Friday, came as Hong Kong battles a resurgence of imported Covid cases triggered by the Delta variant, South China Morning Post reported.

Vietnam and Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea are now listed in a group of medium-risk areas under Hong Kong's five-tier system for assessing the overseas Covid-19 threat.

Under the current rules, fully vaccinated travelers in possession of a valid antibody test certificate and returning from a medium-risk country would only be quarantined for seven days.

However, Hong Kong authorities had recently recorded a fully vaccinated woman returning from the U.S. who tested positive for the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant after completing her seven-day hotel quarantine.

All passengers from medium-risk areas must furnish a vaccination certificate, negative PCR test and must have a confirmed reservation at an approved quarantine hotel in Hong Kong.

Starting Friday, unvaccinated travelers coming from medium-risk countries are banned from entering Hong Kong, except for its residents.

Hong Kong authorities earlier this month expressed their interest in piloting a travel bubble with Phu Quoc Island, a famous tourist hotspot in southern Vietnam, to help international tourism recover.

Vietnam is currently facing its most challenging Covid outbreak so far, triggered by the Delta variant, which has prompted several countries to ban or impose stricter quarantine measures for travelers from the Southeast Asian country.

In the ongoing wave that began in late April, the country has recorded nearly 290,000 cases.

The nation of 96 million has vaccinated more than 15.27 million against the new coronavirus, with more than 1.4 million having received two doses.