Hong Kong’s first coronavirus quarantine exemptions for professionals and factory owners entering from mainland China
- Government offers more details on plan to ease restrictions on travel between mainland China and Hong Kong
- Health experts urge caution over the changes, calling for strict rules and monitoring of those given special dispensation
Factory owners and professionals including accountants and engineers are likely to be among the first batch of travellers allowed to skip mandatory quarantine when they enter Hong Kong from mainland China as the city government eases restrictions related to Covid-19, officials have said.
The deputy health chief and the commerce minister revealed the details on Wednesday, a day after officials announced the easing of border restrictions as the city recorded no new infection for a third straight day on Tuesday.
But health experts still urged caution over the changes, and called for strict rules and monitoring on the exemptions.
Deputy Secretary for Food and Health Howard Chan Wai-kee said the number of approved exemptions would be limited, and the travellers in question were unlikely to enter the city before May 1, when the Labour Day “golden week” begins.
“For professional services, there are accountants, lawyers and engineers under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the mainland and Hong Kong, and they have business needs and need to travel between two places,” Chan told a radio programme on Wednesday morning.