HK To Adjust Covid Rules For Arrivals: Sources

Sources have told RTHK that the government is set to announce as early as Friday afternoon new adjustments to Covid rules for arrivals.

Chief Executive John Lee is to meet the press at 3.30pm.

Currently, inbound travellers are subject to a "three plus four" arrangement, where they quarantine in a designated hotel for three days, and spend another four under home medical surveillance with restricted movement.

There have been calls for the government to change the rule to seven days of medical monitoring without hotel quarantine, or even to cancel both measures.

Lee on Tuesday said his administration is actively studying changes to measures for inbound travellers so as to allow maximum connections with the rest of the world.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau, for his part, said on Thursday that scrapping all quarantine and medical surveillance requirements is one option the government will consider when it comes to further opening up the border.

Stuart Bailey, chairman of the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association, said he would like to see a full reopening without any restrictions on travellers, so that another event season will not be lost.

"We need to have a full roadmap for when we can open up, so that we can see when the trade shows can come back. A lot of the big trade shows happen in autumn and spring. Now, we've missed five of those seasons, certainly this autumn is gone as well, so if we could be assured that by spring next year we could welcome people without restrictions, then that would certainly be helpful for the planning of major trade shows," he told RTHK.

Bailey said people who sign up for conferences often do a lot of business while socialising and eating out, which is not possible with the amber health code currently given to people after they leave quarantine.