As it happened: Hong Kong to end mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals with new ‘0+3’ scheme from September 26
- Arrivals will not require a pre-flight PCR test but will be screened upon landing under a ‘test-and-go’ practice which will not require them to wait at the airport
- Authorities have been under pressure from city sectors to open up, after more than two years of being closed off from outside world
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Hong Kong has finally ended mandatory hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals after more than two years, marking the lifting of one of the world’s toughest pandemic-control regimes.
Incoming travellers under the new plan from next Monday will only be required to go through three days of home medical surveillance, with their movement citywide limited.
The government has come under immense pressure from medical experts and the business community to open up to avoid further losing Hong Kong’s competitive edge to rivals. The announcement on Friday came a day after Japan and Taiwan signalled the easing of their immigration restrictions.
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Reporting by Victor Ting, Tony Cheung and Jeffie Lam
