【明報專訊】As Omicron is raging around the world, a fifth wave of the pandemic has broken out in Hong Kong. The government has tightened air transport policies, closing the loophole of quarantine exemption for aircrew. Yesterday (13 January), the Airport Authority (AA) has even announced that it will restrict the use of Hong Kong International Airport as a transit point and limit passenger transfer services to only those arriving from non-high-risk areas. Hong Kong is an international aviation hub. The new measures will inevitably impact Hong Kong's air freight services. However, the pandemic situation beyond the city has intensified recently, with the circumstances in Europe and the US being particularly terrifying. In the next month or so, the global Omicron pandemic will remain at its peak. A scorched-earth strategy in the short term to prevent imported cases is a necessary move that has to be accepted albeit reluctantly.