Coronavirus: designated Hong Kong taxi drivers start taking travellers to quarantine hotels
- ‘Anti epidemic’ service aims to get inbound travellers to hotels quickly as the number of arrivals at airport increases
- Taxi industry hails move that will boost drivers’ income with a daily subsidy of HK$1500
Designated taxis took incoming travellers at Hong Kong airport to their quarantine hotels under a trial scheme launched on Monday aimed at shortening their journey time amid a recent surge in the number of arrivals.
The taxi industry said the move involving 100 vehicles would boost the income of participating drivers, who would receive a subsidy of HK$1,500 (US$191) per day, noting the government had scaled back another programme in which cabs took Covid-19 patients to clinics from a peak of 900 vehicles in March to 90 at present.
Fully vaccinated travellers must stay at designated quarantine hotels for seven days and undergo four polymerase chain reaction tests in the first two weeks of their arrival, as well as take daily rapid antigen tests while in isolation.
A government spokesman said the new taxi service was in response to an increasing number of people arriving in Hong Kong from overseas, leading to a rising demand for transport services to quarantine hotels.
“The government has … also introduced new options of self-paid transport services, with a view to shortening the journey time from the airport to their hotels,” he said.
So far July has seen 95,342 visitors arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, which means it is on track to break the monthly arrival record for 2022 set in June when a total of 102,680 people flew into the city.
Meeting the press on Monday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said the new taxi service would provide another option for inbound travellers to get to their quarantine hotels on top of the existing free shuttle bus service and self-paid limousines offered by hotels.