Coronavirus: young Hongkongers express relief over eased quarantine rules for overseas arrivals
- Travellers will be quarantined in designated hotels for three days starting from Friday, after which they can spend four days under ‘home medical surveillance’
- Residents say long-awaited easing of rules will make it easier to visit relatives and return to school or work
For Daniel Chan, a Hong Kong university student who is currently travelling in the United Kingdom, news of the city relaxing its quarantine rules came as a massive relief.
“It feels like I have been told that I will not be going to prison for a few days … I am now more at ease,” he said.
The 20-year-old originally planned to return to the city in mid-August ahead of the start of his university classes on September 1, but he ended up delaying his trip to wait for a potential shortening of the mandatory stay in a designated hotel.
“I figured that I would take a chance on the government cutting the quarantine period and come back on September 1 instead. I could also save some money,” Chan said, adding that the new arrangements meant he would be able to return to school earlier.
Hong Kong on Monday announced that it would ease its Covid-19 entry rules for international arrivals from Friday, requiring them to remain in a hotel for three days before undergoing four days of “home medical surveillance”.
The long-awaited cut from seven days of mandatory hotel quarantine will make entering the city more convenient, with residents saying it will be easier to visit relatives and return to school or work under the latest arrangement.
The city also launched a new health code under which inbound travellers will be given an amber code, barring them from entering most public premises that require the use of the “Leave Home Safe” contact-tracing app, such as restaurants and bars.
They are also banned from entering homes for the elderly and disabled, and designated medical venues, as well as from joining any mask-off activities.
However, they can still take public transport, attend work and visit shopping centres provided they have negative results in daily rapid antigen tests during the four-day period.
Amber code holders who are employees or students at any of the premises that require the contact-tracing app and those who are receiving services at designated healthcare facilities will be exempt from the rule.
An Indonesian student, who gave her name as Cherry, said she was relieved to find out she would not have to serve the seven-day hotel quarantine when she arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday.
The 22-year-old is flying into the city from Singapore to help her 17-year-old sister settle into university. She will leave on August 21.
Hong Kong to cut Covid quarantine for arrivals to ‘3+4’ format from Aug 12
“I [still] hope for no quarantine, but the ‘3+4’ arrangement is already very good as it saves money,” Cherry said, adding that the revised rule would motivate her to visit the city more often when she moved to the United States for her master’s degree later in the year.
Cherry said she planned to extend her dates at a hotel she had booked for the remainder of her stay which was different from the quarantine hotel so she could spend the remaining four days there.
For others, like 22-year-old business consultant Janice Tsoi Chung-wan, the new arrangement will make it easier to see loved ones back home.
Tsoi, who works in the UK, said she would consider coming back to Hong Kong twice a year under the new quarantine policy.
“I want to come back as much as possible because I miss my family,” she said, adding that she had less face-to-face interaction with her relatives during the coronavirus pandemic and only saw them in a virtual setting.
She added that used to visit the city twice a year but she was only able to return once a year during the pandemic because of the stricter quarantine measures.
“Since the quarantine measure is relaxed now, I don’t have to take [a lot of leave] from work. So I will consider coming back to Hong Kong twice a year,” she said.
“I can spend more time with my family and friends because I can either stay at home or hang out with my friends after three days of hotel quarantine.”
