Seven passengers found with Covid-19, but Qatar Airways escapes ban thanks to loophole in Hong Kong testing rules

Qatar Airways has escaped being penalised after seven people who arrived in Hong Kong on consecutive flights tested positive for Covid-19, raising questions about a loophole in the way airlines are assessed for punishment if they bring in sick passengers. The Doha-based carrier appears to have got away on a technicality. Under Hong Kong’s rules, an airline may be banned from flying to the city for two weeks if two consecutive flights from the same destination bring a combined three or more passengers who test positive for Covid-19 at the airport’s Temporary Specimen Collection Centre (TSCC). Earlier this month, seven passengers on consecutive Qatar Airways flights were tested upon arrival and found to be infected, but the airline was not penalised. The reason? Some of the passengers’ test results did not come on the day they arrived, and by the time they learned they were positive, some were no longer at the airport, as they had been moved to spend the night at the airport’s holding hotel. If all six results had come on the same day while the passengers were still at the airport, a ban on Qatar would have been triggered, according to Department of Health rules. The seventh infected passenger was a toddler, whose test result took longer to be confirmed. The Department of Health confirmed that those who tested positive for the coronavirus were sent to hospital from the airport and the holding hotel, but declined to provide more details. It said in a statement that no Qatar Airways flight since December 4 had met “established criteria” for it to be banned from landing in Hong Kong.<br/>