'PCR Test Rule For Cross-border Travel Will Go Soon'

Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said he is confident that the PCR testing requirement for cross-border travel will be scrapped “very soon”.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee also said he hopes to lift a daily cap on visitor numbers and open up more border control points as Hong Kong returns to normalcy.

However, he stopped short of giving a clear timetable.

Since the border reopening on January 8, more than 700,000 visitors have travelled north, while over 600,000 entered the SAR.

Also on his agenda, the CE said, is scrapping Covid testing and vaccination requirements for overseas arrivals, and lifting the mask mandate when the time is right.

"We have to be able to ensure that we will be able to pass this winter surge. And when we successfully overcome this challenge, then there will be big room for consideration to see how and when we will remove the mask," he said.

The CE added that authorities will unveil details of a massive tourism campaign on Thursday to entice visitors to Hong Kong.

Separately, Lee said he will be taking some of his top officials and more than 30 industry leaders with him to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this Saturday.

"Now we have resumed normal, it is time for us to go out and tell people that Hong Kong is as normal as before Covid-19," he said.

"I have high hopes that my visits will be received well by the governments and the local commercial sectors. And I look [forward] to some fruitful results."