Hong Kong will shorten the required hotel quarantine for foreign visitors from a week to just three days, the city’s chief executive, John Lee, has announced.
Along with mainland China, Hong Kong is still one of the few locations worldwide that needs a quarantine to prevent travelers from transmitting COVID-19 to locals. The quarantine for new visitors will be the shortest since the epidemic started under the rule that takes effect on Friday.
Lee stated that new arrivals must quarantine for three days at a certain hotel before undergoing four days of medical observation during which their movements will be restricted via a health code system.
Travelers will also need to frequently test for COVID-19 during their week of quarantine and observation, and those who are sick must remain in isolation.
Those who test negative are allowed to use public transportation and enter shopping centers and markets but not bars, amusement parks, nursing homes, schools, or some medical facilities.
Hong Kong has enforced some of the strongest COVID-19 entrance restrictions worldwide for the majority of the pandemic. Hong Kong once mandated up to 21 days of required hotel quarantine for visitors and had a “circuit breaker” system that would prevent flights from specific airlines into the city if they brought in an excessive amount of COVID-19 cases.
These actions have completely destroyed the city’s tourism sector and hampered business travel in a place noted for being a global commercial and financial centre.
Thousands of people have departed Hong Kong since the outbreak started. Numerous businesses have also moved to nations like Singapore, where travel without a quarantine is once again permitted.