Coronavirus: Hong Kong near goal of zero Covid-19 cases but is cross-border travel to mainland China any closer?
- Reviving cross-border travel is seen as a priority for Hong Kong authorities to help boost the economy
- Health experts have called for strict quarantine rules and border controls to remain in place, while warning single outbreak could ruin city’s efforts
But is there really light at the end of the tunnel? Health experts have called for strict quarantine rules and border controls to remain in place, while warning a single outbreak, however small, could ruin the city’s coronavirus efforts.
Reviving cross-border travel is seen as a priority for Hong Kong authorities to help boost the economy. Hong Kong closed all but three border checkpoints in February last year to keep out the virus.
Last November, Lam pointed to a target of zero local infections – a point at which Hong Kong had gone 14 days without an untraceable case – as an important condition for the border with the mainland reopening.
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Hongkongers on the mainland and in Macau are eligible to come back to the city without undergoing quarantine under the “Return2HK scheme” if they have tested negative for Covid-19. But the one-way arrangement is not reciprocal at this stage.
