Letters | 3 Covid quarantine policy tweaks Hong Kong should home in on

The current policy is unlikely to be keeping Hong Kong safer from Covid-19 when everyone is crowded into a 90-100 per cent occupied quarantine hotel

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Letters

Published: 7:00am, 15 Jun, 2021

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The Hong Kong government has again got itself into a mess and doesn’t have the wherewithal to admit its mistakes and take corrective action. Officials will have to admit their errors eventually, but why does it take so long when obvious measures can be taken immediately?

The policy of requiring almost everyone arriving in Hong Kong – save certain mainland arrivals, C-level financial executives, and pilots/flight crew – to quarantine in a designated hotel has run its course, at least as far as residents are concerned.

There are not enough designated hotel rooms for visitors and returning residents to accommodate their travel plans, causing confusion and disruption to those plans.

The policy restricts travel to and from the city and imposes financial and psychological burdens on travellers and their families. This financial burden for residents is on top of the already high cost of home ownership, compounded by rates and taxes, and/or rent.

The policy is self-perpetuating because the government has agreed to subsidise the quarantine hotels if occupancy levels drop.

This policy is unlikely to be keeping Hong Kong safer from Covid-19 when everyone is crowded into a 90-100 per cent occupied quarantine hotel, as compared to having a lower occupancy level for visitors and allowing residents to stay in their own homes under strict quarantine rules.

Hong Kong’s 21-day Covid quarantine violates human rights

Here are my suggestions: First, continue the hotel programme for visitors to Hong Kong and unvaccinated residents, while gradually phasing out the subsidy programme for hotels with lower occupancy levels. This will justify the change in policy that will undoubtedly reduce occupancy levels and allow the hotels to decide whether it is worthwhile to remain in the programme.

Second, allow all fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents to quarantine in their homes, provided that every eligible person in that household is also fully vaccinated. This will relieve pressure on the hotel rooms, relieve the financial and psychological burden on residents and their families, and incentivise everyone in the household to become fully vaccinated even if only one family member wants or needs to travel.

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Returnees fight cabin fever during mandatory 21-day hotel quarantine in Hong Kong

Third, the quarantine period, testing on arrival, testing while in quarantine, bracelets and strict enforcement of quarantine rules should be maintained, as long as they are deemed necessary, but such policies should be reviewed and revised regularly based on a reasonable and scientific Covid-19 risk assessment.

J. Herbert, Sai Kung