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Coronavirus Hong Kong
Hong KongSociety

Coronavirus: Carrie Lam pledges to review Hong Kong flight suspensions, says reopening border with mainland China still ‘priority’

  • City leader says government looking at possible changes to flight ban ‘without compromising our border-control measures’
  • Health authorities report 12,240 Covid-19 case, the lowest single-day tally since February 25

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Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to review the route-specific flight suspension mechanism. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Natalie Wong,Jack TsangandElizabeth Cheung
Hong Kong could further reopen its borders by relaxing a long-running rule that bans airlines from flying any route that brings in too many passengers infected with Covid-19, the city’s leader has revealed, as the daily number of cases continues to fall.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also stressed on Wednesday that resuming quarantine-free travel with mainland China was still the government’s main goal despite the recent suspension of plans for a citywide compulsory testing drive, a move many in the pro-establishment camp argued threatened the reopening.

“I can make it very clear that resumption of travel into the mainland remains a priority,” Lam said. “My government will spare no effort to achieve that objective by meeting some certain prerequisites.”

Hong Kong on Wednesday confirmed 12,240 Covid-19 cases, including 7,990 infections logged by people who tested positive through rapid tests. Officials also reported 205 related deaths, including 35 backlogged ones. The city has recorded 1,088,150 infections and 6,569 related fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

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Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing

Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing

Daily infections have been falling steadily since last Wednesday, when 29,272 were recorded, and the latest cases were the fewest since February 25, when 10,010 were reported.

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