HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s chief introduced the town would now not require incoming vacationers to quarantine in designated lodges because it seeks to stay aggressive and open up globally after practically two years.
Incoming vacationers can even now not want a unfavorable PCR take a look at inside 48 hours earlier than boarding a airplane to Hong Kong, the town’s chief govt John Lee mentioned Friday at a information convention. As a substitute, they might want to current a unfavorable COVID-19 end result from a fast antigen take a look at carried out inside 24 hours earlier than the flight.
The measures will come into impact Monday.
“Whereas we will not management the development of the epidemic, we should enable the utmost room to permit connectivity with the world in order that we are able to have financial momentum and to cut back inconvenience to arriving vacationers,” mentioned Lee, who additionally mentioned that authorities is not going to roll again the measures introduced Friday.
He mentioned that there have to be a “stability between dangers and financial progress.”
From Monday, vacationers into Hong Kong should bear three days of residence monitoring. In the event that they take a look at unfavorable for COVID-19 after three days, they are going to be allowed into venues similar to eating places and bars. They have to additionally bear a number of obligatory PCR exams, together with one on arrival, in addition to on their second, fourth and sixth days in Hong Kong, coupled with day by day antigen fast exams on daily basis for his or her first week.
Hong Kong’s easing of journey curbs sparked a rush for flight bookings, with airline Cathay Pacific’s web site “experiencing excessive visitors” after the announcement was made. Guests to the location needed to wait in a digital queue to enter.
The town’s day by day COVID-19 infections have fallen to under 6,000 instances a day, from over 10,000 day by day instances early this month. A big majority are native infections.
For practically two years, Hong Kong required abroad arrivals within the metropolis to serve a interval of obligatory quarantine in designated lodges. At one level, the town had among the many world’s longest quarantine intervals at 21 days of obligatory isolation.
Neighboring Taiwan is predicted to do the identical subsequent month. This leaves mainland China as one of many solely locations on the planet that can nonetheless require vacationers to quarantine on arrival.
Hong Kong has for many of the pandemic aligned with China’s “zero-COVID” technique.
Over the previous 2 1/2 years, Hong Kong authorities have imposed strict social distancing measures and locked down residential buildings with confirmed COVID-19 infections to mass-test residents.
As the remainder of the world reopened borders, companies urged Hong Kong authorities to give you an exit technique to the pandemic to be able to stay aggressive amid a mind drain as tens of hundreds of residents left the town.
A number of firms additionally moved their places of work to nations like Singapore as they sought aid from the town’s restrictions.
Singapore had eased journey curbs and relaxed coronavirus restrictions months earlier than Hong Kong, sparking issues that Hong Kong might lose out in competitiveness as a world monetary heart and regional enterprise hub.
Lee mentioned authorities will maintain monitoring the epidemic scenario in Hong Kong to find out if additional leisure is feasible, including he was “optimistic” that the loosening of necessities will likely be welcomed by those that want to enter Hong Kong.
“If there are optimistic developments as we progress … there will likely be extra room for us to do additional measures in order that we are able to have extra motion, extra actions and extra room for us to go about totally different (actions),” he mentioned.
The easing of measures comes as Hong Kong prepares to carry a number of high-profile occasions, together with the Rugby Sevens match in November and a world banking summit.
The Rugby Sevens is making a comeback within the metropolis for the primary time for the reason that pandemic started. In a information convention Friday, organizers mentioned that danger mitigation measures will likely be taken for the match, which incorporates ensuring that each one gamers and officers concerned have not less than two COVID-19 vaccinations.
Different measures taken embody working inside a “competitors bubble,” which ensures that competing groups will likely be sequestered on arrival, throughout the match and till departure.
On arrival, groups will likely be transported straight from the airport to designated lodges and can have devoted staff transport and coaching venues.
Organizers mentioned 10,000 Rugby Sevens tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 28.
“The return of the Hong Kong Sevens means enterprise is returning too. And I do know we will not look forward to each to fill the stands, and the streets and retailers, eating places and hopefully bars as nicely,” mentioned monetary secretary Paul Chan on the Rugby Sevens information convention.
“The momentum will carry on constructing. And lengthy past. There will likely be no stopping our many prestigious worldwide occasions,” Chan mentioned.
The comfort of journey necessities drew optimistic reactions from some residents within the metropolis.
“I believe (reopening) needs to be step-by-step, it is optimistic,” mentioned Samuel Tsang, a Hong Kong resident.
Nevertheless, there are others who consider that three days of monitoring for arrivals remains to be an inconvenient measure.
“It is too late. All people else has opened up for such a very long time,” mentioned Eva Leung.
“The economic system has develop into like this, nobody is coming,” she mentioned, including that it is nonetheless a trouble, particularly for enterprise vacationers who’ve to maneuver across the metropolis for work. “It is nonetheless not handy.”
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AP information assistant Karmen Li contributed to this report.