Quarantine hotel rush: Hong Kong arrivals hit a high of more than 7,400, but tens of thousands of non-local students set to miss start of school year

Sunday’s figure of 7,428 airport arrivals was a new high in recent months under city’s eased ‘3+4’ travel rule, but this means competition is fierce for quarantine hotels

City records 5,162 new infections on Tuesday, including 272 imported cases and 11 related deaths

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Hong Kong marked a surge in arrivals on Sunday, two days after relaxed quarantine rules came into effect. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 12:37pm, 16 Aug 2022Updated: 9:26pm, 16 Aug 2022

Arrivals in Hong Kong hit a high last Sunday under newly eased quarantine rules, while the city’s daily coronavirus infections on Tuesday exceeded the 5,000 mark for the second time in four days.

A total of 7,428 travellers and residents landed at the airport on Sunday, a high compared with previous months, after the new “3+4” quarantine measure came into force on Friday.

The policy change cut hotel isolation for arrivals from a week to three days, with the remaining four under home medical surveillance.

Among Sunday’s arrivals, about 4,300 were Hong Kong residents, 1,500 were mainland Chinese, and another 290 were tourists, Immigration Department figures showed. The numbers still fluctuated, with about 6,100 arrivals on Friday and 4,800 on Saturday. On Monday, about 5,600 people arrived in Hong Kong.

In comparison, arrival figures over the past three months were mostly between 1,000 and 5,000 before the quarantine regulations were relaxed.

Travellers arrive at a designated quarantine hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong logged 5,162 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, including 272 imported cases, and 11 related deaths. The overall tally stands at 1,427,080 cases, with 9,580 linked fatalities.