Hong Kong orders 5-year-old children to prove vaccination for restaurants, indoor venues

The government is expanding the programme to include elementary school-aged children starting Sept 30. PHOTO: AFP

HONG KONG - Hong Kong will require children as young as five to prove they are vaccinated in order to enter restaurants, indoor play areas and other venues, health department authorities said.

The city's Leave Home Safe mobile app, which stores Covid-19 immunisation records and tracks locations where visitors are required to check in, already is required for everyone aged 12 and older.

The government is expanding the programme to include elementary school-aged children starting Sept 30.

Everyone in the expanded age group will be required to have at least an initial inoculation by the end of the month.

For those who got their first shot more than three months ago, a second dose is needed, said Dr Libby Lee, the city's Under-Secretary for Health, at the daily press briefing.

Parents will be allowed to store their children's health code on their phones, Dr Lee said.

They can also present the documentation in paper form or via a screenshot, she said.

The Asian financial centre has been dealing with a growing Covid-19 outbreak for weeks, with cases hovering near the 10,000 a day mark since the start of the month.

There were 11,091 new daily infections reported for Thursday.

During the pandemic, 38 children aged three to 11 have developed severe or critical Covid-19 infections.

Eight died, and none of them was fully vaccinated, Dr Lee said. - BLOOMBERG

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