Let More Mainlanders Skip Quarantine, Unionist Urges

A veteran unionist on Wednesday urged the government to expand the daily quota for mainland and Macau residents to come to Hong Kong without having to undergo quarantine.

Wong Kwok, chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions, made the comments a day after the government announced that 2,000 people can come via the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge per day under the Come2hk scheme, starting from September 15.

They would not have to undergo quarantine provided they can present a negative Covid-19 test result.

Wong said he hopes the quota can be increased and cover the airport soon.

"This is a good small step. Let's see if it can be gradually relaxed to cover other control points, like the airport. If you're talking about a daily quota of 2,000, that's far fewer than the normal number of commuters every day," Wong said on an RTHK programme.

Wong said he also hopes Hong Kong can adopt the mainland’s health code system to improve contact-tracing.

Speaking on the same programme, a deputy chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Sunny Tan, said the scheme is attractive because it eases the burden of travelling businessmen.

He said he expects that some of them would transit to other countries like Singapore via the SAR.

Tan said even though commuters would still have to undergo quarantine when they return to the mainland, the scheme already reduces their isolation period by half.