Non-Hong Kong residents from the Chinese mainland will be exempted from a 14-day quarantine and COVID-19 vaccination requirement upon entering Hong Kong, starting from mid-May, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), announced yesterday (April 12). But they have to get a quota from the HKSAR government's scheme and have a negative COVID-19 test certificate.
The "Return2hk" travel scheme, which exempts HongKong residents returning from Guangdong province or the Macao SAR from a 14-day quarantine, will be expanded to other mainland provinces, according to the government. This policy will come into force in late April.
Furthermore, travelers who have completed vaccination and coming from countries and regions deemed as low risk for COVID-19 infections — New Zealand, Australia and Singapore — will be subjected to a seven-day quarantine or less upon arrival, compared with the current 14-day isolation requirement.
Also, the period of mandatory quarantine for inbound arrivals from medium-risk countries and regions, if vaccinated, could be shortened to 14 days or less, as compared to the current 21 days. The government is working on the details and will announce the relaxation in due course.
Hong Kong is expected to lift its travel ban for air passengers from the UK in early May, while retaining its virus test and 21-day mandatory isolation imposed on these travelers, Lam said.
Tightened restrictions, however, have been announced on incoming flights, according to Sophia Chan, secretary for Food and Health of the HKSAR government. As per the latest rule, in a period of seven days, if a certain number of passengers on a Hong Kong–bound flight are confirmed with COVID-19, with variants of the coronavirus involved, all flights from that region, whether run by the same carrier or not, will be prohibited to enter Hong Kong for 14 days.
The existing social distancing measures due to expire on April 15 in Hong Kong will be extended for another 14 days, while plans of easing such measures are also noted, such as extending dining hours in restaurants and raising cap on diners per table provided that staff and customers are vaccinated.
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