Hong Kong ends last Covid curbs to revive finance hub

Bloomberg

Hong Kong will end some of its last major Covid rules, scrapping gathering limits to vaccination checks and testing for travellers, in a sweeping overhaul of policies aimed at reviving its reputation as a global financial centre.
There will be no cap on the number of people who can gather in public, and the vaccine pass for entry to a raft of venues will also be scrapped, starting from Thursday, Chief Executive John Lee said.
Close contacts of Covid-positive people won’t need to quarantine and limits on the number of people who can sit together in restaurants will be lifted. The city will also no longer require inbound travellers to take two PCR tests after their arrival, but recommends they take rapid tests through their fifth day in the city.
People coming to Hong Kong will need to perform either a rapid test within 24 hours of departing for the city, or a PCR test within 48 hours. The health declaration form is no longer mandatory, meaning there’s no obligation to report the result, but a border official may request to see a photo of the test.
The changes are based on a high immunity level in the city, sufficient medicine, experience of handling Covid among healthcare workers, an improved emergency response system and better awareness among residents, Lee said.
“The above mentioned changes are strongly pushing Hong Kong to recover.”
While the new rules mean Hong Kong has done away with almost all of its major pandemic curbs the incremental pace of loosening stands in stark contrast with the abrupt U-turn on Covid Zero in mainland China. It’s put the city on track to open up to the mainland just as China grapples with the world’s biggest outbreak, and a growing list of overseas locations grow anxious about infections spreading.
The world’s second-biggest economy is set to emerge from almost three years of self-imposed global isolation on January 8 and is also set to resume issuing Hong Kong travel permits and reopen express checkpoints on the border.
The South China Morning Post reported, citing people it didn’t identify, that Hong Kong’s border with the mainland will reopen on January 10 at the earliest, with priority for travel to the city given to those with business and family needs.
Lee said that he’s aiming to come to an agreement with mainland authorities and ask for approval from the central government by mid-January. The reopening will be gradual, he said.
Other parts of the world are more cautious about welcoming visitors from mainland China.