Hong Kong is finally ending mandatory hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals after more than two years, marking the lifting of one of the world’s toughest pandemic-control regimes.
From September 26, inbound travellers will be subject to a “0+3” arrangement, Chief Executive John Lee said during a press conference on Friday.
Under the new arrangement, arrivals will no longer be required to isolate in a designated quarantine hotel. Instead, inbound travellers can choose to undergo three days of “medical surveillance” at home or at a hotel, during which they will be allowed to go out, subject to PCR requirements.
A PCR test will still be required upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport, but arrivals will be allowed to head home or to a hotel immediately – without waiting for the test result – using their preferred means of transportation, including public transport, as opposed to taking designated taxis and buses.
“It would be ‘test and go,’ instead of ‘test and hold’,” the city’s leader said.
After receiving a negative result from that initial test, travellers will be issued an amber QR code in the LeaveHomeSafe contact tracing app. For three days, arrivals can leave their residences but will be restricted from certain premises under the Vaccine Pass scheme, including restaurants and bars.
Travellers are expected to take four PCR tests in their first week upon arrival. The tests would be conducted on the day when they arrive, that is day zero, and again on day two, day four and day six.
Provided the result of the day two PCR test is negative, arrivals will be issued a blue QR code after the third day, removing all restrictions imposed under the amber code.
The government also scrapped the policy of requiring travellers to present a negative PCR test result 48 hours before boarding a flight to Hong Kong. Instead, they only need to show a negative result from a rapid test conducted 24 hours before their flight.
Hong Kong residents who are not fully vaccinated will also be allowed to return, Lee announced on Friday. The group would need to follow existing procedures to obtain a Vaccine Pass. Additionally, the limit on the number of people allowed to enter the city from mainland China and Macau as part of the Come2hk and the Return2hk scheme would be lifted.
The government has come under immense pressure from medical experts and the business community to open up to avoid further losing Hong Kong’s competitive edge to rivals.
The latest policy changes came after the government decided that the transmission risk from inbound travellers was neither higher nor lower than the risk of local transmission.
Lee said his administration also took into account people’s livelihood, economic activities, Hong Kong’s competitiveness and other factors.
Currently, international arrivals who are fully vaccinated must complete three days of hotel quarantine at their own expense, followed by four days of medical surveillance, where arrivals are restricted from entering places subjected to active checking of vaccine passes (such as restaurants and bars).
Adapted from HKFP