Hong Kong will lift from Wednesday all travel restrictions on those arriving in the city and with a negative covid-19 test, reported today the local newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The head of the Hong Kong Government, John Lee Ka-chiu, announced the new measures ahead of the weekly meeting with the Executive Council, according to the daily publication in English.
Until now, anyone arriving in the Chinese administrative region, in the south of the country and neighboring Macau, had to comply with the ‘0+3’ regime, without the need to quarantine in a hotel, but with three days of home medical self-management, keeping during this period the yellow health code, which prohibited, for example, entering restaurants.
With the new measure, Hong Kong adopts the ‘0+0’ regime and all arrivals in the territory with a negative covid test will have a blue health code, which means that they can walk freely around the city, highlighted the SCMP.
According to the new rules, those who test positive, keep the red health code and are obliged to respect the current isolation protocol.
Lee also said that as of Wednesday, residents will no longer have to scan the QR code to register entry to city venues, although restaurant patrons and people visiting certain facilities will still need to show registration. of vaccination.
“Decisions are based on data and risk. The risk of infection from imported cases is lower than the risk of local infections. We believe that lifting [the measures] will not increase the risk of local outbreaks,” said Lee, quoted by the SCMP.
Regarding a possible opening of the border between Hong Kong and mainland China, Lee said that the Government has been actively negotiating with the central authorities. “Inland authorities also attach great importance to this,” he added.
Last week, Hong Kong eased quarantine and isolation measures, following an amendment to Beijing’s ‘zero covid’ policy.
A rise in daily infections had prevented the city from lifting social distancing rules, the paper recalled.
Hong Kong health authorities reported a total of 14,717 cases on Monday, 5% of which were imported.
According to data from the Johns Hopkins University of the United States, Hong Kong has surpassed 2.2 million infections and recorded 10,959 deaths since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.
