The Hong Kong government added six more hotels to its list of Designated Quarantine Hotels (DQHs), which are meant for international travellers to serve their mandatory seven-day isolation period when they arrive in the city. The new hotels will start accepting reservations this week for late May onwards, according to a government press release.
These new hotels will be included in the seventh cycle of DQHs, which will end on July 31. They are:
- Empire Hotel Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui
- Hotel Alexandra
- Hotel COZi‧Harbour View
- Hotel COZi‧Oasis
- Novotel Century Hong Kong
- Royal View Hotel
This brings the number of hotels offering services to overseas arrivals to 64, with a total of approximately 22,000 rooms.
The number of international passengers arriving at Hong Kong International Airport has increased since May 1, which was the first time that non-residents were allowed to enter the city, irrespective of their point of origin, since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Speaking at her weekly press briefing on May 17, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said, “In this month, we have 2,000 people arriving every day. That is still a very low level, but compared to a few hundred every day previously, there is a marked increase.”
The addition of these new hotels to the DQH list is meant to accommodate this increasing number of arrivals into the city. Earlier this month, nine hotels that were earlier used as Community Isolation Facilities (CIFs) to accommodate people who tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong were converted to DQHs.
These developments come after a series of measures were announced to relax the city’s strict anti-epidemic regulations. Starting May 19, Hong Kong will enter Phase 2 of relaxation of social distancing measures. Bars and clubs will reopen and restaurants can serve diners till midnight, among other measures.
Phase 3, which will begin at the end of June, will see most anti-pandemic rules lifted. The rules about mandatory mask-wearing in public places and the use of the LeaveHomeSafe app and the vaccine pass will remain.
Header image credit: Wpcpey via WikiCommons
