Exclusive | ‘One country, two systems’ lets Hong Kong have own Covid policies without copying mainland, quarantine-free travel possible by November with conditions: health minister

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau says he favours a local health code and more testing to better ring-fence cases, ensure city does not have to return to tightened social measures

Lo says President Xi Jinping had stressed Hong Kong must maintain its own uniqueness and Beijing will not blindly ask city to follow its policies

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Secretary for Health Professor Lo Chung-mau. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:00am, 13 Jul 2022Updated: 1:10pm, 13 Jul 2022

Hong Kong need not copy mainland China’s tough Covid-19 policies as it enjoys wide latitude under the “one country, two systems” principle, the new health minister has said, as he forecast that quarantine-free arrivals with conditions attached could be allowed by November in time for a global bankers summit.

In an exclusive interview, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau argued he favoured a local health code and more testing not to mimic the mainland’s approach but to better ring-fence cases and ensure the city did not have to return to tightened social measures, a move he wanted to avoid.

During the wide-ranging session, he also revealed internal modelling predicted a rebound in the city’s recent fifth coronavirus wave and a peak in September with up to 10,000 patients needing hospitalisation, but he vowed not to let the infections run out of control.

Travellers at Hong Kong International Airport wait to be transported to their quarantine facilities. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

“Listen to what President Xi Jinping said on Hong Kong’s 25th handover anniversary. He talked about ‘four necessities’ and the fourth one is very important – he stressed Hong Kong must maintain its own uniqueness and strengths,” Lo said.

“Mainland is different, in its demographics, medical infrastructure and vaccination rates … Indeed we are one country, two systems, in our pandemic policies in the last two years too,” said Lo, who served across the border as chief executive of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital. “The country would not blindly ask Hong Kong to follow its policies. This should delight all our foreign businesses.”

Since taking office on July 1, Lo has embarked on a policy reform blitz, including halting the city’s flight suspension mechanism and indicating a wider overhaul of its tough quarantine regime for overseas arrivals.

The straight-talking minister, who once said coexisting with the virus was tantamount to “going to hell together”, set himself apart from the previous administration in one of his first acts in office, by tapping his long-established contacts in mainland agencies to successfully negotiate an increase in Shenzhen’s quarantine units and thereby entry quotas. He also asked Shenzhen to enforce a tougher crackdown on profiteers abusing the booking system.