Hongkong has officially announced a two-week ban on incoming flights from eight countries, including the United States and Britain, and tightened restrictions on Wednesday as authorities feared the fifth wave of COVID-19 infections. 

The restrictions are the latest economic blow to an international business hub pursing probably a zero- Covid strategy, which has kept cases very low but has left residents cut off from the rest of the world.

Incoming flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain, and the United States, including interchanges, would be banned from Jan 8 to Jan 21, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters. 

Likewise mainland China, Hongkong has maintained some of the world's harshest measures throughout the pandemic- including virtually closed borders, weeks-long quarantines, targeted lockdowns, and mass testing.
"We're yet to see a fifth wave yet, but we're on the verge," Lam said.

Hong Kong recorded 38 new coronavirus cases this Wednesday. Still, only one was from a local community transmission, while the rest were people who had to return to the city and tested positive during the quarantine.

Since then, authorities have scrambled to track down and test hundreds of people who had been in contact with a handful of Omicron patients. One patient, however, had no known links, raising fears of a quite handful outbreak.

"We are worried there might be a silent transmission chains in the community." Lam said.

Lam said the government would not suspend classes for the time being "for the benefits of children."

In response to the outbreak fears, Standard Chartered Plc has even started operating in split teams in Hong Kong, a bank spokesperson alleged.