Coronavirus: Hong Kong to lift flight bans, reduce quarantine for arrivals as 14,068 new Covid cases reported

Key points

• Flight bans on nine countries to be lifted on April 1

• Hotel quarantine for fully vaccinated residents returning from overseas will be cut from 14 to seven days from April 1, on the condition travellers test negative on the fifth day via a PCR test, and via rapid antigen tests on the sixth and seventh day of their stay

• Social-distancing measures will be eased in three phases over three months from April 21, provided there is no rebound in cases

• The first phase involves gyms, game centres, beauty salons, religious venues and sports facilities reopening, dine-in hours in restaurants being extended, and restrictions on public and private gatherings being eased

• The second phase involves the reopening of all other types of business that were forced to close under the fifth wave, including bars and pubs, along with further extensions to operating hours, and mask exemptions for outdoor activities

• In the third phase, all limits on group sizes in restaurants and bars will be lifted, and operating hours will be further extended

• Primary schools, international schools and kindergartens will resume face-to-face classes from April 19

• Secondary schools will resume in-person classes after the Diploma of Secondary Education exams, which will kick off on April 22

• Compulsory universal testing to be suspended

• In the longer term, authorities will work on another road map for Hong Kong and seek to reopen the city’s border with the mainland

Hong Kong’s leader has announced a significant easing of tough pandemic-control measures from next month that will include halving the quarantine period for travellers arriving in the city and the lifting of flight bans on nine countries.

After conceding last week that the public had reached the limits of tolerance for the strictest anti-pandemic measures in the world, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Monday revealed that following an interim review, the government would ease border restrictions from April 1, while putting on hold a contentious plan for compulsory universal testing of the entire population.

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Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing

Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing

The current 14-day hotel quarantine period for Hong Kong residents returning from overseas would be reduced to seven days, as long as they tested negative repeatedly, she said.

Social-distancing rules will also be relaxed in three phases starting from April 21 if there is no rebound in cases. The rule changes will cover restaurants, gyms and other businesses, as well as public gatherings, while an existing ban on private gatherings of more than two households will also be lifted.