Hong Kong will scrap its controversial COVID-19 hotel quarantine policy for all arrivals from Sept. 26, more than 2.5 years after it was first implemented, in a long-awaited move for many residents and businesses in the financial hub.
All international arrivals will be able to return home or to accommodation of their choice but will have to self-monitor for three days after entering the Chinese special administrative hub, the government said on Friday.
“We are aiming in one single direction of allowing people to come with more convenience and they are allowed to go about their activities with maximum possibilities,” Chief Executive John Lee told a press briefing.
People will be allowed to go to work or school but will not be allowed to enter bars or restaurants for three days. A pre flight PCR test which was required for travellers to Hong Kong 48 hours before flying will be replaced by a Rapid Antigen Test.
Taking its cues from China which is pursuing a zero-COVID policy, Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world to still require travellers from abroad to quarantine upon arrival although the length of quarantine has eased over time.
Hong Kong residents and businesses have slammed the policy, saying it and other strict COVID rules threaten the city’s competitiveness and standing as a global financial centre.
Currently, arrivals must pay for three days in a hotel and follow that with four days of self-monitoring. The new rules will abolish the need for arrivals from overseas to do quarantine at designated hotels. Residents will be able to go straight home and self monitor for seven days, HK01 said.
Currently people who are required to self monitor are allowed to move around the city although there are some limits on the types of places they can access.
Hong Kong still bans public groups of more than four people and masks are mandatory, even for children as young as two.
DRINKING OK, NO EATING
Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed since 2020, although Hong Kong is planning to host a major finance conference and the international Rugby Sevens in November. Bankers have said quarantine-free travel is a precondition for attending the conference.
Both events have been widely seen as a bid to show that Hong Kong can resume business as usual.
Head of the city’s Rugby Union announced on Friday that revellers at Sevens this year will be able to drink but eating food was still under discussion with the government.
Staff and media will need to wear protective equipment while spectators will need to wear masks unless drinking and scan their vaccine pass before entering the stadium, according to chief executive Robbie McRobbie.
Cathay Pacific Airlines has welcomed the Hong Kong Government’s latest measures to facilitate travel to Hong Kong, especially the decision to remove the hotel quarantine arrangement for passengers arriving in Hong Kong effective 26 September 2022. These adjustments will help boost sentiment for travel, thereby facilitating the gradual resumption of travel activities and strengthening of network connectivity to, from and through the Hong Kong aviation hub.
Hong Kong’s home airline intends to add more than 200 pairs of passenger flights in October to both regional and long-haul destinations. In view of Japan’s relaxation of travel restrictions for inbound visitors, Cathay Pacific will resume daily flights to Tokyo (Haneda) from 1 November and four-times-weekly flights to Sapporo from 1 December. It will also increase flight frequencies to Tokyo (Narita) to 43 pairs and Osaka to 50 pairs in October.