Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader vows to create ‘maximum room’ to reconnect with world, sources say hotel quarantine to end but preparation pending

Chief Executive John Lee stresses need for ‘orderly’ approach to easing rules to avoid rollback

At media meeting before Tuesday Exco session, Lee stops short of giving a timetable and further details of new measures

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Staff beckon to arriving passengers at Hong Kong’s airport. The city has been mostly closed off to the world for more than two years. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 10:57am, 20 Sep 2022Updated: 1:27pm, 20 Sep 2022

Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to create “maximum room” for the city to reconnect with the world, while sources have revealed top officials earlier reached a consensus to lift all quarantine measures and make an announcement only after proper preparation.

The city came a step closer to the long-awaited reopening of its borders as top microbiologist and government adviser Professor Yuen Kwok-yung on Tuesday suggested Covid-19 had transformed from “a highly destructive infectious disease to a milder endemic one”.

In a press briefing before his Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stressed the importance of an “orderly” approach to easing travel rules to avoid rolling back on Covid-19 policies.

Sources told the Post that Lee and his ministers concluded in a Monday meeting to lift hotel quarantine and replace it with a seven-day home medical surveillance, but more details would only be announced after thorough preparation by bureaus.

“I’m conscious of the fact that while we need to control the spread of Covid, we also need to ensure that there will be maximum activities … and economic activities for society to carry on,” Lee said on Tuesday.

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