HK to lift flight ban on nine countries as cases fall

It will be easier to travel or return to Hong Kong after Chief Executive Carrie Lam yesterday announced the lifting of flight bans and recalibrated quarantine arrangements for inbound visitors.

The moves come as daily infections drop. Health officials yesterday reported 14,000 cases, the third straight day of infections being below 20,000.

From April 1, the current flight ban on nine countries - Australia, Britain, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States - will be lifted.

On quarantine arrangements, Mrs Lam said that for a start, all Hong Kong residents with two shots of a Covid-19 vaccine will be allowed to return to the city, provided they serve at least seven days in quarantine at a designated hotel and self-monitor at home for another seven days. Previously, vaccinated residents had to serve 14 days at a quarantine hotel.

Those who test positive for Covid-19 at the airport will have to serve 14 days of quarantine at a designated hotel, during which they have to undergo frequent testing.

If the test result is negative on day five of the quarantine, the visitor can leave the hotel earlier.

Mrs Lam said: "If a visitor chooses to leave early, he must carry out self-surveillance in the next seven days, and on day 12, he must complete a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test at a community testing centre to confirm he wasn't infected at the quarantine hotel during the quarantine period."

She added that those who choose not to leave early will have to do a PCR test on day 12 of the quarantine and can leave after 14 days of hotel isolation only if they test negative.

Netizens welcomed the shorter mandatory quarantine, with Mr Eric Zheng, 31, among those who cheered the announcement.

He described the news as "great", and said "people can now make travel plans".

The Straits Times understands that Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been barred from flying passengers to Hong Kong for two weeks - from March 17 to 30 - after Covid-19 cases were detected among some of its passengers. Flights from Hong Kong to Singapore are not affected.

The carrier's Singapore to Hong Kong flights were last barred from Feb 16 to March 1.

As for the widely expected mass testing, Mrs Lam said that "we have decided to hold this in abeyance".

"When the conditions are right, we will consider whether we will be implementing the compulsory universal testing," she said.

Face-to-face classes could resume as soon as April 19, with kindergartens as well as primary and international schools to start first. From April 21, most social distancing measures will be eased over a period of three months.

In the first phase, venues like sports centres, museums and libraries will reopen, group gatherings will be capped at four people, and up to four can sit at tables in eateries. Dining at eateries will also be extended until 10pm, from the current 6pm.

In the second phase, public gatherings will expand to eight, beaches will reopen, mask wearing will not be required when jogging and hiking, and bars and pubs will reopen. Dining in will be further extended to midnight.

In the third phase, the rules will be further relaxed and only the basics such as mask wearing and use of contact tracing app LeaveHomeSafe will be required.

On Sunday, Mrs Lam said she wanted to give the public an idea of what the anti-epidemic policies will look like after April 20, when the existing measures, where public gatherings are capped at two and private gatherings are limited to two households, expire.

This comes a month after she officially announced plans for mass testing of Hong Kong's entire 7.4 million population, originally expected this month.

But the plans were shelved as daily infections spiked and the government, taking the advice of mainland officials sent to Hong Kong to help with the situation, made a U-turn almost two weeks ago to focus on preventing deaths of seniors and severe cases.

The fifth wave that began in end-December has logged more than 5,900 fatalities, spanning the ages of 11 months to 112 years old.

Residents of elderly care homes accounted for 60 per cent of these deaths, and almost 90 per cent of fatalities in the fifth wave did not have two vaccine jabs.

Hong Kong has recorded 1.05 million cases and more than 6,100 deaths in total. Of the deaths, about 3,800 patients, or 66 per cent, were over the age of 80. Of this age group, 74 per cent were unvaccinated.

On Sunday, Mrs Lam said that about 70 per cent of those aged 70 or above have been inoculated, leaving about 280,000 seniors who have yet to receive their first shot.

But the government will not order the city's seniors to get their jabs, she added.

Officials have found it hard to persuade seniors to do so as most fear adverse effects from vaccination, including possible death.