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Chan Ho-him

Hong Kong is “no longer in travel talks” with other places because of differences in approach to containing Covid-19, the city’s health minister has revealed.
Sophia Chan Siu-chee on Saturday said the government was still aiming to strike a balance between residents’ expectation of “zero infections”, while avoiding becoming “completely cut off” from the outside world.
The long-awaited travel bubble with Singapore was ditched for good on Thursday, after the city state moved towards a policy of “living with the virus”, in contrast to Hong Kong’s stricter approach.
Singapore cuts quarantine for Hong Kong, even as travel bubble bursts
Hong Kong recorded three imported cases on Saturday from Kazakhstan, Venezuela and Nigeria, bringing the overall infection tally to 12,052 with 212 related fatalities.
“From my knowledge, Hong Kong is no longer in [travel bubble] talks with other countries, although the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau might have more details on the matter,” Chan told a radio programme.
The bureau later said in a reply to the Post that the government would continue to communicate with places overseas that had close economic and trade relations with Hong Kong to facilitate cross-border travel based on the pandemic situation.

Chan said being able to discuss travel bubbles with other places required a similar containment of the coronavirus pandemic in both places, as well as similar infection control strategies.
But Chan said although reopening the borders was important, it would not be ideal if any imported variant cases went into the community because of relaxed rules.
“Zero infections is still our target and we have basically achieved that for now,” she said. “We believe that many Hongkongers also have such an expectation towards the government.
Hong Kong’s quarantine bombshell leaves travellers stranded until mid-September
“A balance needs to be struck, although Hong Kong as an international city should not be completely cut off from the outside world.”
In March, commerce minister Edward Yau Tang-wah said the government had written to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand to explore quarantine-free travel bubble arrangements, with progress dependent on how the pandemic developed.


On Thursday, the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong urged authorities to relax strict quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers, warning a recent tightening of the rules could threaten the city’s status as an international business hub.
Nicole Kidman not alone in being granted Hong Kong quarantine exemption
Earlier this week, the government elevated 15 countries to its “high-risk” category, meaning significantly tougher entry requirements and the lengthening of quarantine periods to 21 days for anyone arriving from those destinations.
Australia has been moved from low to medium risk, with fully vaccinated travellers now facing two weeks of isolation.
The chamber said many countries where the virus had recently surged had seen far fewer critical cases and deaths than last year, because of their accelerated vaccination programmes, adding their airports remained open and vaccinated travellers were not required to quarantine.


The health minister was also asked about the quarantine exemption granted to Hollywood star Nicole Kidman and some of her crew ahead of the filming of Expats, a television drama for Amazon.
Chan reiterated previous government defence of the controversial decision, pointing out that the actress had arrived from Australia on August 12, when it was still deemed low risk.
She added that people flying in from “medium or high- risk” countries were less likely to be granted exemptions because of the higher accompanying risks.
The Airport Authority on Friday said targeted groups of workers who were not inoculated would not be able to call upon negative coronavirus tests or medical exemptions from September 1, while requiring all staff to get at least one vaccine dose.
Airport chiefs said employees falling under the new rules included those handling high-risk cargo or having “unavoidable close range contact” with arrival and transfer passengers or airline crew. The measures also apply to airline and ground handling staff, as well as those involved in in-flight catering, cargo loading, and cleaning.
Chan, who described the plan as “reasonable”, said if certain airport staff members could not get vaccinated because of health reasons, they could be transferred to lower-risk positions outside the restricted area.
Earlier in the week, an unvaccinated 47-year-old worker at an airline lounge was found to be infected with a coronavirus variant. Officials said she was likely to have caught Covid-19 from transit passengers, prompting calls for authorities to consider further tightening control measures at the airport.
Separately, a group of eight people sent back into quarantine after a suspected Covid-19 transmission within their hotel wrote an open letter slamming authorities for what they said was a lack of communication. The group also sought help from the United States and Finnish consulates.
Most of the group members had spent 14 days – one of them 17 – in the community after completing quarantine. They had stayed on the same floor as an infected case at Dorsett Wanchai Hotel. That transmission was deemed to have occurred across rooms.
Despite being classified as close contacts of the case, which involved the Delta variant, none in the group had tested positive. According to their complaint letter, there was also no contact-tracing done in their case even though they had already entered the community.
The group will be released from the facility at Penny’s Bay by end of August 25.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Hong Kong ‘no longer’ in travel bubble talks with other places, goal to maintain zero infections

People enjoy the sunshine along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. Hong Kong’s health minister says residents expect authorities to maintain a ‘zero cases’ Covid-19 policy. Photo: Felix Wong

Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee speaks during a radio program at RTHK in Kowloon Tong. 11JUL20 Photo: SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s 21-day quarantine bombshell triggers hotel scramble with availability all but wiped out until mid-September

Hong Kong has some of the world’s toughest Covid-19 quarantine rules. Photo: Sam Tsang

A worker cleans the entrance of Best Western Causeway Bay hotel in Causeway Bay. The hotel is among those accepting reservations by inbound travellers arriving in Hong Kong to undergo 14-day compulsory quarantine amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Visits to people who are under quarantine in hotel are banned from today. 18NOV20 SCMP / Nora Tam

Singapore removes quarantine for Hong Kong, Macau travellers as travel bubble bursts for good

Sunrise at the Merlion Park in Singapore. Photo: Xinhua

epa08889354 Visitors walk along a link bridge connecting the terminal building to the Jewel Changi airport mall in Singapore, 17 December 2020. Starting from 18 December, Singapore will not impose any quarantine or restrictions on travellers arriving from Taiwan providing that they have spent the previous 14 days in Taiwan and test negative for the Covid-19 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/WALLACE WOON

Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 with registration 9V-SMB getting loaded for departure as seen from the airport terminal in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Nicole Kidman’s quarantine-free deal in Hong Kong ‘strikes a balance’ between helping Hollywood star and Covid-19 control, says government

Hollywood star Nicole Kidman arrived in Hong Kong last Thursday. Photo: AP

===PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Nicole Kidman has been spotted out and around Hong Kong. Photo: Chaotic Hong Kong Expats/Facebook

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Edward Yau Tang-wah attends a press conference to speak on Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble and Return2hk Scheme respectively at Central Government Office, Admiralty.    26APR21  SCMP / Sam Tsang

Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble: differing Covid-19 tactics dashed hopes of striking a deal on quarantine-free travel, officials say

The long-running saga of whether Hong Kong and Singapore will launch a travel bubble looks to have ended with a decision to abandon talks for good. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman take selfie of the city from The Peak on a sunny day amid the ‘third wave’ of the coronavirus infections. 17JUL20 SCMP / Sun Yeung

Who can skip quarantine in Hong Kong? A closer look at Covid-19 rules after Nicole Kidman saga

Travellers arrive at Hong Kong International Airport in July. Photo: Dickson Lee

People isolating at Dorsett Wanchai Hotel at Wan Chai. Vaccinated people coming from medium-risk areas will have to spend at least 14 days in a quarantine hotel, instead of just seven for those who test positive for antibodies. 17AUG21. SCMP / Sam Tsang

A sign directing incoming seamen to have their COVID-19 testing at AsiaWorld-Expo is seen in the arrival hall of Hong Kong International Airport in Chek Lap Kok. Sea crew, who is currently exempt from COVID-19 quarantine rules, will need to provide proof of negative for the virus within 48 hours of their departure for Hong Kong effective from Wednesday. 26JUL20 SCMP / Dickson Lee

(210811) -- SINGAPORE, Aug. 11, 2021 (Xinhua) -- A cyclist cycles at the Merlion Park in Singapore's Marina Bay on Aug. 11, 2021. Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Wednesday that it upgraded Singapore's GDP growth forecast for 2021 to 6-7 percent from 4-6 percent, in view of Singapore's better-than-expected economic performance in the first half of the year, as well as the latest external and domestic economic developments. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua)

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 5, 2020 shows Australian actress Nicole Kidman arriving for the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California. - The decision by Hong Kong, which maintains some of the strictest quarantine measures in the world, to grant Hollywood star Nicole Kidman a quarantine exemption as she films an Amazon-funded series about the lives of wealthy expats has sparked public anger, it was reported on August 19, 2021. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)

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Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Coronavirus

Asia

Economic Impact


Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan says Hongkongers have expectation of government to keep city Covid-19 free
Other places, such as Singapore, are moving towards a policy of living with the virus



Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan says Hongkongers have expectation of government to keep city Covid-19 free, and approach of other places is not compatible with goal of ‘zero infections’.


Hong Kong travel bubbles

Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Coronavirus: Hong Kong ‘no longer’ in travel bubble talks with other places, goal to maintain zero infections

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan says Hongkongers have expectation of government to keep city Covid-19 free Other places, such as Singapore, are moving towards a policy of living with the virus

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan says Hongkongers have expectation of government to keep city Covid-19 free

Other places, such as Singapore, are moving towards a policy of living with the virus