HK Faces Long Battle Against Covid-19: Expert

An epidemiologist said on Wednesday it’s a good time to relax some of the coronavirus restrictions in the SAR, but warned that the virus would affect Hong Kong for another six to 12 months.

Benjamin Cowling, from the University of Hong Kong, was commenting after the government eased quarantine measures on business travellers and people who study in Hong Kong but live on the mainland.

However, the 14-day quarantine rule for other mainland arrivals was extended to June 7.

In February, the government said it was closing more border crossings from midnight – leaving just the airport, Shenzhen Bay, and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge open – in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Cowling said it's important to remain alert.

"We know they’re doing an awful lot of testing in China, so if cases are occurring in the community it will become apparent, and that’s also true in Hong Kong that we’re doing an awful lot of testing and if there are infections in the community, we will find out about them," Cowling told RTHK.

"I think it's a good time to think about relaxing some of the measures, but we need to be on alert because the virus is not going to stay out of China – it's not going to stay out of Hong Kong. It's going to keep coming back in again and again."

He said Hong Kong might also have to reintroduce some measures at some point if the virus came back in the future, but stressed that the SAR couldn't keep the current border measures going indefinitely.

"We're looking at a long game against coronavirus. It's going to be around for a while," Cowling said.