This undated photo shows medical staffers walking past a building at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - To prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, the government on Saturday said Hong Kong residents arriving from eight African countries considered as high-risk places for the new mutant strain will be quarantined at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre.

The government said in a statement that, starting Sunday, residents arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe will be quarantined at Penny’s Bay for seven days and will be tested every day for the virus.

Hong Kong residents arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe will be quarantined at Penny’s Bay for seven days and will be tested every day for the virus

The government had banned non-Hong Kong residents from these eight countries from boarding flights to the city.

"Although there are not any direct passenger flights arriving Hong Kong from the eight places in southern Africa concerned currently, we noticed the presence of the Omicron variant in a number of places globally,” a government spokesman was quoted as saying in the statement. 

“We must stay vigilant and implement the most stringent anti-epidemic measures to prevent the mutant strain from entering the local community.”

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After seven days at Penny’s Bay, the arrivals will be allowed to finish the remaining 14 days of their quarantine at their designated quarantine hotel.

They will undergo testing on the 9th, 12th, 16th and 19th day, and another compulsory testing in a community testing centre, on the 26th day after their arrival.

The government said it has also stepped up its surveillance on designated quarantine hotels and will ensure their compliance to the infection control requirements at all times. 

The Omicron mutant strain possesses a large number of mutations and it was first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa on November 24. 

READ MORE: UK, Germany, Italy detect Omicron variant cases

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, this mutant strain is the most divergent variant of the virus, raising concerns that it may be associated with increased transmissibility, reduction in vaccine effectiveness and increased risk for reinfections. Hong Kong healtth authorities had detected the new mutant strain in two travelers in compulsory quarantine.