No place can afford to let people go in and out freely until the Covid-19 epidemic is fully under control. An even safer approach is to ensure the vaccination take-up among the population is high enough to attain so-called herd immunity against the virus. Unfortunately, Hong Kong has yet to achieve either. But pressured by the growing demand to travel to and from the mainland and in the region, the authorities are struggling to convince neighbours that the city is ready for the freer movement of people. All eyes are on the outcome of a recent request by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to Beijing to reopen several border crossings that have been largely closed for more than a year. Unlike the previous suggestion that quarantine-free cross-border travelnot be allowed until the city had achieved “zero infection” within a designated period, no preconditions have been set this time. Exactly how it can happen remains to be seen. But Lam is apparently confident of a favourable response, because she believes her administration is now more capable of preventing imported and local infections from spreading. Thanks to more aggressive testing, lockdowns and quarantine operations, recent individual infections did not result in wider community outbreaks. But the relatively stable situation must not be taken for granted, especially in view of the threat from more infectious strains from overseas. The recent spread of Alpha and Delta variants in Bangkok and the southern region of Thailand has raised concerns that the limited reopening of tourism may once again aggravate the pandemic situation. The push to relaunch the travel bubble with Singapore has complicated matters further. As tourism gradually returns in some places, the much-touted travel agreement may become less appealing to some. There are also safety concerns because the island state is no longer striving to achieve zero infections. The perceived higher risk associated with visitors from places with less stringent control measures may affect the mainland assessment of cross-border travel. The suggestion that there may be hidden transmission chains at Hong Kong International Airport, after two workers came down with the Delta variant , has only added to the worries. That explains why some medical experts believe authorities on the other side of the border may not feel comfortable to open up at this stage. Hong Kong must do its best to protect itself while gaining the trust of others to open up. This is part and parcel of the gradual return to normal life. This can be achieved by preventing imported infections from spreading locally and ramping up the community vaccination rate further to enable greater protection.