Hong Kong Lifts Final Coronavirus Restrictions to Reinvigorate Financial Center

Hong Kong is set to lift some of its remaining Covid restrictions, including limits on gatherings and requirements for vaccination checks and testing for travelers. This is part of a wider effort to revive the city's reputation as a global financial hub.

Starting from Thursday, there will be no limit on the number of people who can gather in public, and the vaccine pass for entry to a raft of venues will also be scrapped, Chief Executive John Lee said Wednesday. Close contacts of Covid-positive people won’t need to quarantine and limits on the number of people who can sit together in restaurants and bars will be lifted.

The city will no longer require inbound travelers to take two PCR tests after their arrival, but recommends they take rapid tests through their fifth day in the city.

If you're coming to Hong Kong, you'll need to get a rapid test within 24 hours of your departure, or a PCR test within 48 hours. You don't have to fill out a health declaration form anymore, so you don't have to report the test results to anyone. But a border official may ask to see a photo of your test results.

Lee said that the changes are based on a high immunity level in the city, sufficient medicine, experience of handling Covid among health-care workers, an improved emergency response system and better awareness among residents. "The above mentioned changes are strongly pushing Hong Kong to recover."

Hong Kong has lifted most of its major pandemic restrictions, including the mask mandate and daily rapid tests for kindergartens and primary schools. However, the gradual pace of loosening stands in stark contrast with the abrupt U-turn on Covid Zero in mainland China. This has caused concern among some that the city may open up to the mainland just as China is grappling with the world’s biggest outbreak.

The world’s second-biggest economy is set to emerge from almost three years of self-imposed global isolation on Jan. 8. According to the South China Morning Post, the country is also set to resume issuing Hong Kong travel permits and reopen express checkpoints on the border. The border with the mainland is expected to reopen on Jan. 10 at the earliest, with priority for travel to the city given to those with business and family needs.

Lee said that he is hoping to reach an agreement with mainland authorities and get approval from the central government by mid-January. The reopening will be gradual, he said.

Other parts of the world are more cautious about welcoming visitors from mainland China, where the country’s health regulator estimated nearly 37 million people may have been infected in a single day last week. This rapid increase in infections has led to many countries rethinking their policies on welcoming visitors from China.

Japan will require all visitors who have been in mainland China within the past seven days to take a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival. Anyone who tests positive will be required to quarantine for a week. The US is considering new coronavirus precautions for people traveling from China, Bloomberg News reported, citing an American official who asked not to be identified discussing internal thinking. During January, Taiwan will require all people traveling from mainland China to take a PCR test after their arrival.

Hong Kong is also seeing a rise in local infections, with health officials warning about the strain being put on the health-care system from both Covid and influenza. The city reported over 18,000 Covid cases a day during the Christmas period, more than doubling from a month ago, and the number of patients in critical and serious condition is rising.

Some of the city’s public hospitals reported wait times of over eight hours in their emergency departments during the four-day holiday period, though that had declined to one-to-four hours on Wednesday. A health official last week asked people with mild Covid symptoms to consider using private medical services. The SCMP also reported that Hong Kong’s local pharmacies are selling out of common antipyretics, including to send to friends and relatives in mainland China.

Hong Kong will keep its mask mandate in place to avoid being hit by both Covid and influenza, Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said. The mandate requires wearing a face covering in most public outdoor and indoor settings.