Coronavirus: Hong Kong tightens restrictions on Taiwan arrivals, while Singapore and Japan could be next
- Unvaccinated travellers to undergo quarantine at designated hotels for 21 days and show negative coronavirus test before boarding flights
- Four-month-old baby becomes youngest in Hong Kong to locally contract variant from South Africa
The rules, which included longer quarantine at government-designated hotels and proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding flights to the city, came into effect for Taiwanese arrivals at midnight, the government said late on Sunday.
According to an aviation insider, Japan and Singapore, which was also battling a surge in infections, would be classified as “high risk” under vaccine bubble travel arrangements, possibly as early as Monday.
Health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee also warned that more residents needed to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to ensure the city could negotiate travel bubbles with mainland China and foreign countries.
Hong Kong’s borders have been mostly shut since February last year, bringing tourism to a standstill and pummelling the economy.
