ExclusiveHong Kong delays second phase of airport antibody testing scheme as concerns rise over coronavirus Delta variant

Tests that will offer shorter quarantine for travellers arriving from places such as US, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan delayed for at least two weeks

City anxious to protect ‘zero infections’ streak as it focuses on cross-border travel with mainland China

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Passengers arrive at Hong Kong International Airport last month. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 12:00pm, 24 Jul 2021Updated: 11:52pm, 24 Jul 2021

In a blow to travellers and airlines, Hong Kong has decided to delay by two weeks a plan to offer shorter quarantine periods to vaccinated arrivals who clear a coronavirus antibody test at the airport, the Post has learned.

The tests will not be introduced at the end of this month as planned, sources said, as city authorities are concerned about the rising number of Covid-19 infections overseas triggered by the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The postponement comes on top of a recent U-turn by the authorities on a proposal to allow fully vaccinated residents to return from extremely high-risk countries like Britain, which are subject to a flight ban by Hong Kong.

What has become clear is that the city’s administration is giving priority to reopening cross-border travel with mainland China, which wants assurance that Hong Kong is coronavirus-free.

Achieving Beijing’s requirement of “zero infections” will make it harder for Hong Kong to reopen to the rest of the world, given soaring infections elsewhere caused by the Delta variant.