“We fully understand that our normal operation, business activities and competitiveness are important. But from the government’s perspective, we also have to … protect our medical system … and safeguard our overall health and safety.”

His comments came as the city’s daily reported coronavirus infections continued to drop, reaching 7,218 on Tuesday, despite a three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday that officials had warned could cause a rebound in cases because of more social gatherings.

The figure included 151 imported cases, while health officials reported 10 more related deaths. The city’s overall tally stood at 1,667,130 cases, with 9,820 related fatalities.

Lee said the government had heard from industry leaders that they were still interested in attending the fintech week, to be held between October 31 and November 4.

Singapore is holding its Fintech Festival between November 2 and 4.

On November 1 and 2, Hong Kong will also host a high-level financial summit.

“I believe we can deliver a successful financial summit,” Lee added.

More than 100 top bankers, fund managers and financial executives have been invited to the summit, which aims to restore Hong Kong’s image, battered by a strict quarantine policy that has led to talent heading for the exits.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters told Bloomberg on Monday he planned to take part in the Hong Kong banking summit even if quarantine was needed. HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn has also spoken of his plan to attend the two-day event.

Only quarantine-free travel can provide ‘magic’ Hong Kong needs, say observers

Lee said whether the quarantine period would be further shortened or removed would depend on scientific data and the vaccination rates of high-risk groups, including the elderly and children. He added that the government needed to ensure that public hospitals could cope with an increasing number of admissions.

Hong Kong in early August cut its mandatory seven-day hotel quarantine period for arrivals to a “3+4” policy, meaning three days in hotel isolation followed by four under “home medical surveillance”.

In April, Singapore allowed fully vaccinated travellers to skip quarantine. It then extended that even to those who were not fully vaccinated in late August.

A recent surge in coronavirus cases in Hong Kong has shown signs of easing with infection numbers remaining below the 10,000 mark for a fourth day on Tuesday. Respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu said daily caseloads had peaked last Friday.

Hong Kong was still facing a “critical” situation which had to be monitored closely, Lee said, noting the Mid-Autumn Festival had resulted in a jump in family gatherings.

Hong Kong is easing quarantine rules for arrivals: here’s what you need to know

He said the government could not “turn a blind eye” to two facts – hospitals had already cut 30 per cent of their services to deal with the epidemic and high-risk groups faced a real threat because their vaccination rates were unsatisfactory.

“People should not just think that Covid is a normal flu, because if you look at our figures we have lost 9,000 lives just because of Omicron when every year we lost about 300 lives because of flu,” Lee warned.

He also defended his proposal for a “reverse quarantine” scheme with Guangdong and Shenzhen, under which a local makeshift Covid-19 treatment facility at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, an area near the border, could be used to isolate travellers before they crossed into mainland China.

No timetable has been set for the scheme, which was put forward on September 1, while Shenzhen on Monday temporarily cut its daily quarantine quota for Hong Kong arrivals by half to 1,000 slots.

Hong Kong can only fully reopen borders if vaccination rate improves: Paul Chan

Lee said the entry quota was cut based on the recent epidemic situation in Shenzhen and reiterated that his proposal had been endorsed by the authorities there.

“What I intended to do, as I have explained, is to create a system … in the long run,” he said. “This is in progress … There are a lot of challenges, of course, to overcome but I think through communication eventually we will be able to achieve some sort of achievement.”

He also dismissed calls to align vaccination requirements for Hongkongers and arrivals from across the border, after a mainland woman caused a social media stir when she said she could “travel everywhere” in the city despite being unvaccinated.

All overseas arrivals must have received at least two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine for entry to the city, but the arrangement does not apply to those coming from the mainland, Macau and Taiwan. Unvaccinated mainland arrivals are also provided with a provisional vaccine pass to enter public venues and restaurants, unlike local residents.

Lee said the arrangement had existed for a long time, as the Covid-19 risk from the mainland was the lowest compared with overseas countries.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and make relevant adjustments when necessary but as far as we are concerned, no imported cases have resulted from this requirement,” he said.

Speaking at a forum at the University of Hong Kong, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the convenor of key decision-making body the Executive Council, said she believed the city stood a better chance of fully reopening its border with the rest of the world sooner than the one with the mainland, given the relatively low number of imported infections.

“The government is aware of the business sector’s concern and that there will be an international finance conference and Rugby Sevens in November,” she told the forum.

Ip added Beijing would not easily change its quarantine policy for the sake of Hong Kong and the government was working on an arrangement of “reverse quarantine” with the mainland side.

The difficult question Hong Kong was facing, Ip said, was “life or livelihood”, but she stressed that any adjustments of Covid-19 measures would have to be based on scientific data and thus she could not comment on a possible road map.

Ip also called the recent brain drain “transitory”, saying it was partly due to the pandemic and the 2019 anti-government protests. But she agreed that the government should work out a policy to tackle the ageing population and attract more global talent in the long term.

Coronavirus infections in Hong Kong remain below 10,000 mark for third day

Among the latest to be infected was Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing who was now under isolation. He last went to work on Monday and had no travel history, the authority said.

Meanwhile, Lee also said the city had boosted the supply of medication and vaccines to guard against any imported cases of monkeypox, although he stressed the disease, which was mostly spread through bodily contact rather than being airborne, would not be a concern for the public.

The city reported its first monkeypox case last week after an inbound traveller fell ill while undergoing hotel quarantine after a trip to the United States and Canada.

The government began using the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre as a quarantine facility for close contacts of monkeypox patients on Tuesday.

Separately, the city’s No 2 official, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, visited the British consulate on Tuesday and signed a condolence book expressing “profound condolences” on the passing of Queen Elizabeth on behalf of the Hong Kong government.