Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongHealth & Environment

Coronavirus: Hong Kong to axe most quarantine exemptions in bid to satisfy Beijing’s border reopening concerns, tighten hospital discharge rules

  • City will require patients meet conditions more in line with mainland China’s approach and spend two weeks in quarantine
  • Diplomats, company directors and scientific experts among arrivals who will lose exemption privileges, leader Carrie Lam says

Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
A quarantine exemption received by Australian actress Nicole Kidman raised questions over government policy earlier this year. Photo: Winson Wong
Chris LauandZoe Low
Hong Kong is set to end Covid-19 quarantine-exemption privileges for most travellers in categories once identified as crucial for the city’s economy and daily operations as it steps up efforts to convince Beijing to reopen the border with mainland China.
Advertisement
In a further bid to ease Beijing’s concerns about the pandemic situation in Hong Kong, local authorities will tighten discharge conditions for infected people from Wednesday, allowing them to leave hospital only after they test negative twice – but they must then spend an additional 14 days in quarantine at a separate facility.
“We are caught in a sort of a dilemma because in order to resume some quarantine-free travel with the mainland we have to ensure that our anti-Covid-19 practices are more in line with the mainland practices, so that the mainland authorities will have the level of confidence to enable Hong Kong people to go into the mainland without being subject to the 14-day plus seven-day quarantine,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday.

“Controlling the import of possible cases is a very important part of that strategy. If Hong Kong were to loosen the border controls for people arriving from overseas or adopt what other countries have done – so-called living with the Covid-19 virus – then the chances of resuming travel with the mainland will be reduced.”

01:24

Hong Kong leader cancels most quarantine exemptions and tightens hospital discharge rules

Hong Kong leader cancels most quarantine exemptions and tightens hospital discharge rules

In revealing the change in the hospital discharge policy, a government spokesman said the tighter rules were in keeping with the city’s zero-infection policy and would “further reduce the risk of such patients bringing the virus into the community to a minimum. It would also lower the risk of virus spreading in the community due to possible repositive situation.”

Advertisement

There are 50 Covid-19 patients in public hospitals in Hong Kong. Those who meet the new discharge criteria will be transferred directly to the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre to carry out the two-week quarantine and undergo health monitoring.

loading
Advertisement