Hong Kong has banned Air India flights from Mumbai till November 10 after five passengers from Mumbai tested positive for the coronavirus infection on arrival there.

This is the fourth time that Air India flights from India have been banned by the Hong Kong Government for bringing passengers who tested positive for the infection after arrival. The previous bans were on the airline’s Delhi-Hong Kong flights during September 20-October 3 and August 18-August 31 and October 17-October 30. This time the ban is reportedly on flights from Mumbai alone.

According to officials, a passenger from India was among five who boarded an Air India flight from Mumbai on Monday. The other four were confirmed to be Covid-19 patients on Tuesday. “Subsequently, the Mumbai-Hong Kong flights have been barred from October 28 to November 10 by the Hong Kong government,” officials added.

Air India Express has advised passengers in a tweet that that “passengers travelling on (its) flights to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) must ensure that their final destination should be Kuala Lumpur itself. Passengers who intend to travel onward via KUL should not book with us due to Covid-related travel restrictions.

Passengers from India can arrive in Hong Kong only if they have a COVID-19 negative certificate from a test done within 72 hours prior to the journey, according to rules issued by the Hong Kong government in July.

Moreover, all international passengers are required to undergo a post-flight COVID-19 test at the Hong Kong airport.

Besides India, a pre-flight COVID-19 negative certificate is mandatory for all passengers from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, France, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the US, according to the Hong Kong government’s rules.