Letters | Hong Kong must prepare for returning overseas students to avoid summer outbreak

Readers discuss ways to make family reunion safe and affordable as the pandemic persists, and the growing toll of Covid-19 restrictions on mental health

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Passengers wait at check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport on June 29, 2021. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 11:30am, 19 Mar 2022

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The second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong started around March 2020 when many overseas students returned to Hong Kong for the Easter holidays from countries including the UK and the US. The government did not act fast enough and the quarantine measures were not as strict as they are now. We saw defiant youngsters walking around town or hanging out with friends while wearing tracking wristbands.

The current fifth wave started in January. Some 10 weeks have passed and we are still nowhere close to being ready for universal compulsory testing. Indeed, we are fighting this wave by relying heavily on support from the mainland.

As countries around the world open up, many here hope to see life return to normal soon. In view of this, and given the time the government needs for its planning and action, it should start preparing now for the return of overseas students this summer.

The government should consider opening up boarding houses in universities and schools to accommodate returning students. This will make it easier to track any confirmed cases and alleviate the burden on parents fighting to book quarantine hotel rooms for their children.

The government could also negotiate with our neighbouring cities to secure hotels in, say, Shenzhen or Macau, to ease the load. This will ensure students have reasonable accommodation and, perhaps at the same time, the chance to experience those cities after their quarantine.

Parents have suffered from pricey air fares and quarantine hotel charges, not to mention the stress from changing airline schedules and the no-cancellation policy imposed by some hotel operators. Given that more students have chosen to study overseas due to various disruptions in Hong Kong since 2019, it is time for our government to provide some comfort to these youngsters and their parents and to let them feel that the Hong Kong government is really making an effort to serve them.