Hong Kong’s lifting of quarantine could help mainland China map path out off zero-Covid
- The decision to end hotel quarantine for travellers has been described as overdue, but it is not expected to make much difference to case numbers
- Scientists say the mainland, which is one of the few places still to impose strict controls, will remain cautious about opening up
Hong Kong announced on Friday that it would scrap mandatory hotel quarantine for international travellers, requiring them instead to undergo three days of monitoring at a location of their choice.
Mainland China is now one of the last places in the world to keep strict Covid-19 controls in place, and still quarantines every positive community case.
However, it recently cut the quarantine period for overseas travellers to seven days plus three days of medical surveillance.
“Perhaps the experience in Hong Kong can be used to inform a future relaxation of travel measures in the mainland,” said Ben Cowling, chair professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong.
Some mainland internet users expressed the hope that Hong Kong’s experience might provide some valuable data for the mainland.