The Hong Kong government has announced the loosening of its strict 21-day quarantine for international travels, in the midst of ongoing pressures in the business community to adjust policy.
From February 5 on words, incoming travelers will no longer be subject to 21 days of hotel quarantine but instead be required to spend 14 days in isolation and seven days of self-monitoring, according to an announcement by the Hong Kong government.
Authorities also scrapped the highest-risk category for locations deemed to pose an Omicron threat, classifying them in the same group as high-risk locations.
The flight bans for eight countries – Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the U.K. and the U.S. – will remain in place until February 18.
«Purely Based on Science»
The relaxation follows increasing sentiments from the business community about excessive pressure of the quarantine rules from the likes of the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the European Chamber of Commerce.
Just yesterday, Bank of America was reportedly undergoing a review to identify Hong Kong staff who could be relocated to Singapore.
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam noted that cutting the quarantine period by seven days would not be enough to satisfy the business community but said any further reduction would be «a very dangerous move» due to the vaccination rate with nearly 79 percent of the eligible population having received at least one dose.
«It is purely based on science,» Lam said.
Local Tightening
While authorities loosened borders, local restrictions were further tightened, in contrast.
The city’s strict social distancing rules will be extended for at least another two weeks with around a dozen of venue types like bars and gyms remaining closed. Students will continue to learn from home with in-person classes remaining suspended until February 21.
The vaccine bubble policy will also be renamed to «vaccine pass» with coverage of more premises and plans to boost the requirement from a minimum of one shot to eventually three shots.
