Air India has been banned from flying to Hong Kong for two weeks after a dozen of passengers onboard a flight operated by the airline have tested positive for COVID-19, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said on Wednesday.

A total of 13 passengers on an Air India flight from Delhi on Aug. 14 have been confirmed to have infected with COVID-19 after landing in Hong Kong, prompting the government to suspend its flights on Aug. 18-31, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch, told a media briefing.

It was the first time for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to ban flights by invoking the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation, Chuang added.

Since July 25, travelers from high-risk countries, including India, have been required to present a negative COVID-19 testing result taken within 72 hours before boarding.