Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam speaks during an event. File photo

Hong Kong 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 a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections.

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

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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.

Like mainland China, Hong Kong has maintained some of the world's harshest measures throughout the pandemic — including virtually closed borders, weeks-long quarantines, targeted lockdowns and mass testing.

Hong Kong has maintained some of the world's harshest measures throughout the pandemic.

"We're yet to see a fifth wave yet, but we're on the verge," Lam said.

Hong Kong recorded 38 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, but only one was a local community transmission, while the rest were people who had returned to the city and tested positive during 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 large outbreak.

"We are worried there may be silent transmission chains in the community," Lam said.

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

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