Coronavirus: Hong Kong to lift ban on residents, workers returning from extremely high-risk areas if they hold recognised jabs records
- Unvaccinated students stranded in Britain can also come back home, source reveals
- But arrivals with vaccination records issued by Philippines and Indonesia will not be covered by the easing
A source familiar with the matter said the arrangement for unvaccinated children stuck in Britain, one of eight countries deemed extremely high-risk by the Hong Kong government, was made on compassionate grounds, allowing them to reunite with their families during the summer holiday.
All arrivals, regardless of the country’s risk level, would also need to present a negative Covid-19 test result before boarding a flight to Hong Kong. Travellers from medium or low-risk places are currently exempted from such requirements.
“We need to take tight border control measures amid rampant variants, especially the Delta one worldwide ... while striking a balance to allow Hong Kong residents from high-risk places to return,” the source said on Wednesday.
Only those who were fully vaccinated in countries where regulatory authorities were recognised on a specific list by the World Health Organization (WHO) would be allowed to enter the city, meaning inoculation records issued by the Philippines and Indonesia, which supply most of the city’s domestic helpers, would not be accepted, the insider said.
He said the Labour and Welfare Bureau and Labour Department were planning to work out with countries that supplied helpers a mechanism for recognising vaccination records.