HK People Sign Up For Quarantine-free Return

Some Hong Kong people living in Macau and Guangdong on Wednesday started signing up for a travel scheme which will allow them to return to the territory without having to undergo 14 days of quarantine.

The "Return2HK" scheme, which will begin on November 23, will have a daily quota of 5,000 people. Up to 3,000 residents will be allowed to enter through the Shenzhen Bay border crossing per day, and 2,000 via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Returnees are required to register online in advance, and must demonstrate that they had tested negative for coronavirus in the past three days at one of 39 recognised medical facilities in Guangdong or one of four in Macau.

One of those signing up for the scheme, a woman surnamed Chan, told RTHK she had registered for her parents, who have been on the mainland for months.

While she said the application process was very smooth and only took around five minutes, she was struggling to iron out the rest of the arrangements because her parents don’t have smartphones and aren’t technologically savvy enough to register for a Guangdong healthcode and complete the necessary Covid tests.

Meanwhile, the government is reportedly planning to expand the quota to allow more eligible people to return to the SAR in two weeks without the need for quarantine.

A report in Sing Tao Daily added that plans are also in the pipeline to extend the quarantine-free arrangement to Hongkongers living in other mainland provinces, and officials would also look at whether it could be applied to Taiwan.