Will Hong Kong’s John Lee announce ‘0+0’ Covid travel curbs in policy address? Sources say no, but city can expect further easing of rules
- Chief executive does not want ‘definite time frame’ on return to normality because of ‘volatile’ coronavirus situation
- Government may offer exemptions for major events or for students, if vaccination rates increased, insider predicts
But two sources said Lee did not consider setting out a precise time frame in Wednesday’s address useful given a predicted surge of infections this winter and he preferred to focus on additional easing measures while firmly sticking with the relaxations already in place. Neither would he raise the topic of discussions with mainland Chinese authorities on fully reopening the city’s shared border, they said.
“There won’t be any announcement of a ‘0+0’ regime by lifting all Covid-19 curbs for inbound travellers in the policy address,” one insider said.
“John Lee doesn’t want to set a definite time frame for removing all Covid-19 restrictions as he hopes to have some flexibility to manoeuvre the changing situation. After all, the Covid-19 situation is still volatile given the winter surge.”
