Coronavirus: Hong Kong border controls unlikely to be eased before June 30, outgoing leader Carrie Lam says, as city reports 250 new cases
- Hotel quarantine, passenger vaccination and ‘test and hold’ will remain in place, chief executive says
- Lawmaker says Hong Kong could follow suit if Beijing moves to ease hotel quarantine for international travellers
Hong Kong’s strict border controls are unlikely to be relaxed before the current government’s term expires on June 30, the city’s outgoing leader has said, pointing to a relatively large proportion of imported Covid-19 cases.
However, a leading voice in the business community urged the government to adjust its hotel quarantine measures to align with international practice, while a lawmaker also suggested that Hong Kong could follow suit should Beijing move to ease Covid-19 curbs.
The calls to ease the city’s border control measures came as six Covid-19 infections were identified at a kindergarten in Kowloon Tong, prompting health authorities to ask for classes to be partially suspended for the first time since face-to-face lessons started to resume last month.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday said that as local infections were now very low, imported cases accounted for a significant share of the total caseload. But she added that the government would need to be extremely careful as there were different sublineages under the Omicron subvariant BA.2.
“I would say, at this point in time, it is very unlikely that during my term there will be more relaxation of border controls,” she said.
“In other words, we will still have hotel quarantine, we will still require vaccinations before a passenger could board a plane to Hong Kong, and we will still impose ‘test and hold’ whether at the airport or at a hotel for PCR tests.”
Hong Kong reported 250 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, including 34 imported ones. The daily caseload rebounded slightly from the previous day’s 190 infections, which was the fewest since February 4. No new virus-related deaths were reported for a fourth straight day.
