Hong Kong to lift flight bans, cut quarantine for arrivals

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam said on March 21 that the city would lift flight bans on nine countries including Britain and the U.S. on April 1

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam on March 21 said that the city would lift flight bans on countries including Britain and the U.S., as well as reduce quarantine time for travellers arriving in the city as coronavirus infections in its latest outbreak plateaus.

The city’s chief executive Carrie Lam announced during a press conference on Monday that a ban on flights from nine countries — Australia, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the U.S. — would be lifted from April 1. A flight ban on most these countries has been in place since January, as authorities sought to stem the outbreak of the highly transmissible omicron variant in Hong Kong.

Travellers entering the city can also quarantine for as little as seven days in quarantine hotels — down from 14 days — if they test negative for the virus on the sixth and seventh days of their quarantine. Such travellers must also be fully vaccinated and test negative for the coronavirus before entering the city.

Ms. Lam also said that plans for a city-wide mass-testing exercise, which was first announced in February, would be suspended. “The experts are of the opinion that it’s not appropriate for us to devote finite resources to the universal mass-testing,” said Ms. Lam. “The SAR government will continue to monitor the situation. When the conditions are right, we will consider whether we will be implementing the compulsory universal testing.”

The changes announced on Monday signal a shift in Hong Kong’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as authorities sought to provide a direction for Hong Kong businesses and its residents after two years of aligning with mainland China’s “zero COVID” policy.

Ms. Lam said that the changes come as part of an interim review of the city’s measures and that various stakeholders in the city will be consulted for any longer-term roadmaps when it comes to public health and economic development.

“We have to listen more carefully to the experts, both locally and from the mainland,” said Ms. Lam. “For any longer-term public health strategy, we will have to take into account both factors that is maintaining Hong Kong’s accessibility to the mainland and also ensuring her continued connectivity with the outside world.”