Coronavirus Hong Kong: 1,000 travellers apply for quarantine-free ‘Come2HK’ scheme in first hour; city confirms 1 Covid-19 case
- The scheme allows 2,000 travellers a day from Guangdong and Macau to enter the city without undergoing compulsory isolation
- Arrivals praise the scheme’s efficiency, but one major business group says it will have little impact until mainland China lifts its own quarantine requirements
Wednesday was the first day bookings could be made for the “Come2HK” scheme, which allows 2,000 non-Hong Kong residents a day to enter the city from Guangdong and Macau – 1,000 each via the Shenzhen Bay Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – without undergoing compulsory quarantine.
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The flood of applications came as Hong Kong health authorities on Wednesday confirmed just one new Covid-19 case involving a 45-year-old woman arriving from Britain. The infection brought the city’s overall tally to 12,149, with 213 related deaths.
Cross-border travel has been severely limited for more than a year, and the mainland is still reluctant to reopen its borders to Hong Kong arrivals without quarantine, despite the pandemic having long been under control in the city.
A government spokesman said that, as of 6pm, a total of 304 people had arrived in Hong Kong under the scheme. Of those, 265 entered the city through the Shenzhen Bay Port and 39 arrived via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
At Shenzhen Bay Port on Wednesday morning, mainland travellers taking advantage of the scheme were already trickling in. One, a new student at Chinese University surnamed Li, said she had gone to Shenzhen from Gansu Province two weeks ago, and had booked her Come2HK slot as soon as the system went live at midnight.
“The clearance process was very quick and convenient. The officials just inspected my QR code and then I was allowed to go,” she said.
Another mainland student, surnamed Zhang, said she too had leapt to apply as soon as the system opened.
“This scheme is very convenient for me to come to Hong Kong,” she said.
One man surnamed Liu, who worked in finance and was coming to Hong Kong for business, also lauded the hassle-free clearance process and entry procedures.
However, Danny Lau Tat-pong, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said his members who lived across the border were not as enthusiastic about the scheme given that the quarantine-free arrangement was only one-way.
“When they go back to the mainland, they will still be subject to two weeks of quarantine,” he said. “For many people, it’s not worth it.”
The scheme, he added, would only benefit those who had an urgent need to come to Hong Kong, for instance, to start their studies or take care of a pressing business matter.
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“As long as mainland travellers are still subject to quarantine on the mainland, I don’t think the scheme can attract tourists coming to Hong Kong,” he said.
Travellers taking advantage of the scheme need to be screened for the coronavirus no more than three days before entering Hong Kong, and are subject to six more tests after arriving, with the last one administered on their 19th day in the city.
Currently the scheme only applies to Macau and Guangdong – with the exception of one “at-risk” area of Guangzhou – but it is expected to expand to other provinces at a later date.
Additional reporting by Victor Ting
