‘It’s a disaster’: travellers’ plans upended after Hong Kong revises Covid-19 entry rules, extends quarantine times
- Some had plans to fly to a third country to reduce hotel quarantine from three weeks to two, only for that destination to also require 21-day isolation period
- Others are scrambling to adjust dates for quarantine stays before changes take effect on Friday
Some of them coming in from already high-risk countries such as Britain had plans to fly to a third nation to reduce their hotel quarantine from three weeks to two, only for that destination to also now require a 21-day stay in designated hotels under the revised rules.
Others find themselves scrambling to return and book quarantine hotels before the changes take effect on Friday.
In all, 15 countries will see their status changed from medium to high risk: the United States, France, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Greece, Iran, the Netherlands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania and Turkey.
Hong Kong permanent resident Richard Langford and his wife flew to Britain in June for urgent family matters, aware of the threat of getting stuck in the country, which had been classified as high risk by city officials.