Hong Kong’s Secretary for Health, Lo Chung-mau, announced that the government will ease certain Covid-19 restrictions, starting December 14. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Lo said that confirmed Covid-19 patients will no longer need to wear tracking bracelets and building residents will get fewer testing notices. There will also be reduced PCR testing requirements for Mainland- and Macau-bound travellers from Hong Kong.
This announcement comes after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s Tuesday morning press conference, during which he said that there will be no more amber code and mandatory LeaveHomeSafe scanning from December 14.
Lo explained that although confirmed Covid-19 patients no longer need to wear electronic wristbands, they must remain under isolation either at home or at a quarantine facility until their health code turns blue. He added that travellers to Mainland China and Macau will no longer have to wait at the airport and border control points for their pre-departure Covid-19 spot test results and will only need to have a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of their trip.
However, the Secretary also said that some testing requirements will remain, such as the on-arrival and Day 2 PCR tests for inbound travellers and daily rapid antigen testing (RAT) for schoolchildren and school staff. Lo stated that the school testing measures have helped prevent “a high rate of outbreaks” among children, who the government considers a high-risk group.
Header image credits: VOA Chinese via Wiki Commons
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