Coronavirus: Hong Kong may shorten hotel quarantine and introduce colour codes for infected patients and arrivals around same time

The ‘3+4’ and ‘4+3’ plans, which would require arrivals to undergo either three days of hotel quarantine and four of home isolation or vice versa, are being discussed

The policy change could come as authorities implement a red and yellow QR code system to better control movements of infected patients and arrivals

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Hong Kong requires arrivals to spend at least seven days in a quarantine hotel. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 1:00pm, 25 Jul 2022Updated: 10:21pm, 25 Jul 2022

The government is “actively considering” cutting Hong Kong’s week-long hotel quarantine for arrivals to three or four days as it introduces a new colour-coded health system aimed at better enforcing Covid-19 rules for infected patients and arrivals, the Post has learned.

The “3+4” and “4+3” plans, which refer to combinations of days spent isolated at a hotel and at home, have been discussed by officials in recent days after a “5+2” plan was raised by health experts earlier this month.

But government insiders on Monday said it was still too early to give an exact date for implementing the change in quarantine policy, citing the need to further study a variety of health data, especially the number of arrivals who tested positive for Covid-19 on the third day of their hotel stay.

Officials are still looking at data on infection numbers among arrivals quarantined in hotels. Photo: Sam Tsang

“The government is still digging into figures on whether the quarantine period at hotels should be shortened to just five days or could even further be shortened to four or three days,” a government source said.

Another insider familiar with policymaking said the health minister hoped to provide some “groundbreaking ideas” that would enable residents to travel more freely.

At the same time, authorities were putting the finishing touches on the two-colour health code system aimed at preventing people from leaving quarantine, and which the government could introduce in the coming weeks, at the earliest, sources said.

Health officials on Monday confirmed 4,130 Covid-19 cases, including 224 imported ones, and three additional deaths. The city’s coronavirus tally stands at 1,326,123 infections, with 9,472 related fatalities.