Travel Sector Urges Quick Action On Health Code

The Travel Agent Owners Association's president has called on the government to roll out the long-planned health code programme that would enable those who test negative for Covid-19 to cross the border without undergoing quarantine.

Leung Kwok-hing told RTHK that some travel agency workers are only working two or three days a month, and he's worried that some firms will downsize or fold after the government's employment subsidy scheme ends.

Leung said the health code programme would allow the city to build a travel bubble with Guangdong and Macau, and then Thailand and Japan, which will help the sector survive.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said last week that the government would unveil a health code plan to enable cross-border travel soon.

Under the proposal, those who sign up for the planned code will have to take a coronavirus test and then apply to the Guangdong or Macau authorities for exemption from quarantine restrictions when they travel there.