Flight Ban Lifted, Distancing Rules To Ease In Phases

The government has announced the lifting of an inbound travel ban on nine countries starting from April 1 as part of easing Covid-19 measures.

The announcement, which also involved the reopening of businesses from April 21, was made by Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Monday as she outlined a roadmap for the gradual resumption of normal life after the city was battered by the Omicron outbreak.

Lam also said a universal testing plan for all Hong Kong residents has been shelved.

Hong Kong had suspended flights from countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia from early January.

From April 1, vaccinated Hong Kong residents currently in those countries will be allowed to return to the SAR.

Arrivals from all countries and regions will need to present negative PCR test results before departure, and will be required to go through a seven-day quarantine in hotels upon arrival during which they are to be tested every day.

They can leave after seven days if they clear a PCR test on the fifth day and rapid tests the next two days.

Anyone who tests positive will be sent to a community isolation hotel.

"We're not relaxing measures on inbound control," the chief executive said.

"We're only straightening out the arrangements to allow many Hong Kong residents stranded in these nine countries to return in a gradual and orderly manner.

"Upon arrival, the prevention and control measures are more stringent than many places."

On social-distancing measures, Lam said they will be relaxed starting from April 21 in three stages over three months, provided that infections do not see a rebound.

In stage one, many types of premises will reopen, and night-time dining will resume in restaurants.

The gathering and dine-in limits will be relaxed from two to four people.

In the second phase, bars, pubs and beaches will be allowed to reopen, and people can exercise outdoors without wearing a mask.

In the last phase, most measures will be relaxed, but people will still need to use the vaccine pass and the LeaveHomeSafe app.

Lam rejected the idea that the distancing rules could be eased before April 21.

"In the next month, we don't just look at the epidemic situation. We also need to increase the vaccination rate, we need to ease the pressure on hospitals, allow them to have more treatment [capacity], we need to help elderly homes to recover. It's already a tight schedule to allow room for doing all these work," she said.

Lam also said the government is suspending plans to conduct universal mass testing in Hong Kong, saying this is the consensus of both local and mainland experts.

She said they all agree that it's only useful to test everyone at the beginning or towards the end of a major outbreak.

The CE added that mainland experts believe that the SAR lacks the level of community organisation and mobilisation seen on the mainland for such an exercise to be most effective.

Lam said, however, that the government will continue to assess the situation to see if universal testing will be needed later on.

On the resumption of schools, the chief executive said the plan now is to hold face-to-face classes from April 19, starting with kindergartens, primary schools and international schools.

Secondary schools are set to resume normal teaching after the Diploma of Secondary Education Examination is finished.

The vaccine pass will apply to teachers and staff, not students.