A new step towards a broader easing? Hong Kong intends to reduce the mandatory hotel quarantine for people arriving from overseas, the city’s chief executive John Lee announced on Monday. Currently set at one week, this isolation period will soon be reduced to three days.
From Friday, travelers from abroad will have to spend these three nights in one of the government-designated quarantine hotels, before monitoring their health at home or in a hotel of their choice for four days, said John Lee.
Competitiveness against “zero Covid” strategy
“We hope to maintain Hong Kong’s core business and competitiveness, and give the company economic vitality and the best impetus for its development,” he said. Formerly an Asian hub for transport and logistics, Hong Kong has been cut off from the world for more than two years due to a draconian health policy in line with China’s “zero Covid” strategy.
Applying some of the strictest sanitary measures in the world, Hong Kong requires travelers arriving from abroad to respect a seven-day quarantine at the hotel, punctuated by several screenings. The business community has complained about this policy which prevents employees from going abroad.
John Lee rejected the idea that this relaxation means a break with Chinese policy. “It is not contradictory to keep in touch with the outside world and work to resume quarantine-free travel with mainland China,” he said.
QR code system
Alongside these new quarantine rules, Hong Kong will implement a health QR code system similar to the tracking application set up by the Beijing government. With this system, an infected person will receive a red code preventing them from leaving their isolation.
People arriving from abroad will have a yellow code at the end of their three days at the hotel and access to certain places such as restaurants, bars and cinemas will be prohibited during the four days of self-monitoring. “The situation could relieve business travelers a little, but it is still not very attractive for tourists,” said Perry Yiu, local deputy in charge of the tourism sector.
“I hope (…) that we can get rid of the mandatory quarantine in hotels by the fourth quarter of this year”. A Hong Kong computer scientist working in Singapore says he is cautious before considering returning to his hometown. “I will take a wait-and-see position to see if this policy is stable,” said the man who asked to be identified by the first name Tom.