Hong Kong cycling presses ahead with plans to stage city’s biggest sporting event in pandemic times, despite 21-day quarantine
- Organisers say they will set up safety bubble to accommodate 500 participants from overseas to avoid quarantine control for May’s Nations Cup
- The inaugural series would see some of the world’s top riders arrive in Hong Kong to take on the likes of local star Sarah Lee Wai-sze
Organisers have vowed to press ahead with May’s UCI-sanctioned Nations Cup – potentially Hong Kong’s biggest sporting event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – though quarantine measures remain their biggest concern.
About 500 riders and officials are expected to arrive in the city for the International Cycling Union event from May 13-16 at the Tseung Kwan O velodrome, with the Hong Kong Cycling Association (HKCA) in talks with the government to set up a special “bubble”.
Organisers fear that many of the overseas participants would be reluctant to travel to Hong Kong because of the city’s strict 21-day quarantine requirement to combat the spread of Covid-19.
“We are still in discussions with the government regarding the setting up of a safety bubble for all the participants so that those from overseas can be exempted from the required quarantine measures,” said HKCA executive director Alex Wong Chi-yu.
“Some progress has been made but we have no idea when such a bubble can be approved by the government. But at some point we have to make a decision if we can go ahead, possibly a month before.”