Thousands Apply For Cross-border Health Code

The government says some 82,900 people registered for a health code within a few hours of the online application system opening on Friday morning.

People will be allocated a green, amber or red code depending on their risk of contracting Covid-19, with a green code needed to travel to the mainland.

Close contacts to confirmed cases, recently recovered patients and those who have shown symptoms in the past 14 days, for example, will be issued the red code.

People who have visited high-risk areas will be given the amber code, while the rest will be issued the green code.

Users will be required to provide personal information and allow the authorities to access their "LeaveHomeSafe" visit records.

The registration website states that the information might be shared with mainland authorities for contact-tracing purposes.

Innovation and Technology Secretary Alfred Sit said officials are still doing preparatory work on quarantine-free travel to the mainland.

Meanwhile, Sit said some charitable organisations and telecommunications companies have promised to donate more than 10,000 mobile phones to needy people so they can use the LeaveHomeSafe app.

He said authorities are working closely with them on the matter.

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