Govt Urged To Further Ease Entry Restrictions

The government’s been urged to further relax anti-infection control for Hongkongers travelling between the city and the mainland, after the National Health Commission announced that it will shorten the Covid-19 quarantine period for inbound travellers.

Mainland health officials on Tuesday said they will refine the requirement by halving the quarantine period to seven days, with a further three days spent at home.

President of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, Allen Shi, said that’s good news for businesspeople, adding he hopes the SAR will increase the quota for the Return2HK scheme under which Hong Kong residents can come back without undergoing quarantine.

Currently, 5,000 people are allowed to return to the territory through the scheme every day.

Meanwhile, Shi said he hopes the Hong Kong government will relax its quarantine requirement for other travellers from seven to three days, and gradually scrap it altogether.

“Of course it’s best to cancel it all. You can see that many other countries, like Singapore, no longer have any inbound quarantine measures, and we are still very stringent. It will greatly hinder our economic development,” he said.

Speaking on the same programme, tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu also said he hopes the SAR government can allow those who’ve been triple-jabbed to stay at a quarantine hotel for three days and self-isolate at home for four days.