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Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Lynn Lee
Lynn Lee

As I see it | Time for Hong Kong to make clear its plan for living with Covid-19

  • Cutting hotel quarantine time is the first step, but the slow take-up of vaccinations is a hurdle to embracing a new normal
  • With the Delta variant gaining ground, employers in Hong Kong should ride on the government’s momentum to spur their staff into getting inoculated

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A man walks in front of the Grand Central residential building complex where one of the HK$10.8 million flats will be offered as a prize in a lucky draw for a vaccine incentive. Photo: AP
Lynn Lee
Hong Kong’s move to cut the hotel quarantine time for most vaccinated travellers to seven days has been met with relief, and praised as a long-awaited reward for those who dutifully signed up for jabs. It is also a step towards reopening, and comes as fellow financial hub Singapore draws up a road map for living “normally” with Covid-19 amid mass vaccinations.
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If Hong Kong’s plan goes ahead on June 30, despite naysayers worried about the threat of the Delta variant, the city – where only close to 18 per cent of people are fully vaccinated – will swing from having some of the world’s strictest border rules to being one of the first places allowing relatively freer access to vaccinated people.

The next step should be to outline what to expect for residents here seeking to get on with their lives. One hurdle to embracing a new normal for Hong Kong is its slow pace of vaccinations. It remains to be seen if the reduced quarantine perk for travellers will help get more shots in arms.

Lucky draws and voucher giveaways for the public have not had the hoped-for impact, but recent research and anecdotal evidence suggests that perks from employers – such as cash benefits for those on low incomes, paid leave, and health checks – could act as incentives too.

02:09

Hong Kong to shorten mandatory quarantine to 7 days for fully vaccinated residents, travellers

Hong Kong to shorten mandatory quarantine to 7 days for fully vaccinated residents, travellers

Some companies have already begun offering this suite of incentives, but there is room for more to do so, along with emphasising that down the road, vaccinations could be a prerequisite for some business activities.

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In a Harvard Business Review piece in March, authors from professional services firm Willis Towers Watson recommended using a mixed approach, from ensuring there would be no out-of-pocket costs for employees to get vaccinated to helping them overcome the tendency to underestimate risks. In Hong Kong’s case, the “wait and see” approach of some people has been shaped by the city’s risk-averse, “Covid-zero” strategy that kept infection rates much lower than those of other global financial hubs.

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