Hong Kong police have arrested two employees of Cathay Pacific Airlines and charged them with violating health regulations.
Like China, Hong Kong uses a rigorous strategy to combat Govt-19, which keeps epidemics to a minimum, but has practically isolated this international financial center from the rest of the world over the past two years.
Police say the recent eruption of Ómicron was triggered by members of the Cathay group who violated the period of compulsory isolation, which prompted authorities to impose more strict controls – including the closure of day care centers and elementary schools.
According to police, on December 25 and 27 the group members “took part in unnecessary activities” and read a report that they should be isolated at home after returning to Hong Kong.
“Both were then positively tested for an omigran variant of Govit-19 and were able to leave the hospital after treatment,” the police statement said.
The two board members, who were fired from the company and released on bail, face up to six months in prison and a fine of US $ 640 (approximately 60 560), with a trial scheduled for February.
The incident further complicates the already dangerous situation in the Cathay Pacific, which has been severely affected by the epidemic as border controls have reduced travel to the city, which was once a major transportation and logistics hub, to almost zero.
On Jan. 11, Gary Lam, head of Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region, threatened to take legal action if authorities investigated whether the airline complied with existing regulations.
Cathay leader Patrick Healy defended the company, insisting that “minority” wrongdoers should not restrain the efforts of others.
In 2021, the company’s employees spent 62,000 nights in isolated hotels.
Unlike other airlines, Cathay Pacific has no home market to lean on. The recent tightening of segregation rules has forced cargo planes to be reduced – the only industry that still makes money.
According to a recent report by Agency France-Press, Govt-19 has caused 5,537,051 deaths worldwide since the outbreak.
Respiratory disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 corona virus, which was discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan, central China.
A new variant of the Ómicron, classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as alarming and highly contagious, has been found in South Africa and has been dominant in many countries since South African health officials issued a warning in November. In Portugal.