Letters | Hong Kong’s 48-hour Covid test rule stumps those with indirect flights
- Readers appeal for the relaxation of the rule requiring passengers to test negative 48 hours before boarding a flight to Hong Kong, comment on brownface in a television show, and suggest one way to integrate Hongkongers into the Chinese nation
I am writing to appeal for the kind assistance of the Food and Health Bureau for me, and many others, stranded in Toronto who are trying to make their way back to Hong Kong.
The situation is: I have a return Air Canada ticket to Hong Kong from Toronto via a direct flight on April 17 but because of the pandemic, Air Canada rescheduled my flight to Hong Kong on May 2 but via an indirect route, with stopovers first in Vancouver and Tokyo, resulting in a total of 27 hours’ flight time.
According to the Hong Kong government’s requirements, inbound travellers need to show a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test which must be taken no earlier than 48 hours before. In my case, it means that the earliest possible time for me to take the PCR test here in Toronto would be early in the morning on May 1, which is a Sunday.
I checked online and found that most, if not all, accredited test centres doing the PCR test for travellers only say that the test result will be available within 24 hours. As May 1 is a Sunday, most test centres here in Toronto either do not operate, or open at 10am. So there is a good chance I cannot get my result by the early morning of May 2.
For internationals flight to Hong Kong, one has to check in three hours before the scheduled flight, and in my case, it will be 4.30am on May 2 Toronto time. So if I don’t get the result earlier, how can I upload all the required information to the Food and Health Bureau website to get the QR code required?