Many countries around the world are stepping up their anti-Covid measures on travellers from Hong Kong, in view of the city dropping most of its social-distancing measures at the end of 2022. Some places require negative Covid-19 tests before or after arrival, while some have restricted entry into their countries. Read on to find out which measures apply to Hong Kong. Remember that most of these requirements apply to all travellers from Hong Kong, irrespective of nationality or vaccination status.
Australia
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within 48 hours of departure to Australia.
From: January 5, 2023.
Test type: PCR or a rapid antigen test administered or supervised by a medical practitioner, along with a certificate.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged 12 and above.
Exemptions: Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 within 30 days before their date of travel who can show proof of their first positive test and that they are no longer infectious or symptomatic. People who obtain proof within the past 30 days attesting that they cannot take a Covid-19 test for medical reasons.
Note: The testing requirements do not apply to passengers transiting through Hong Kong to Australia.
Canada
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within 48 hours of departure to Canada.
From: January 5-April 5, 2023
Test type: PCR or antigen test, along with documentation from a telehealth service, an accredited laboratory, or testing provider.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged two years old and above.
Exemptions: Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 within 10-90 days before their date of travel who can show proof of their positive test result.
France
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within 48 hours of departure to France.
From: January 5-February 15, 2023.
Test type: PCR or antigen test, with a test certificate result in English or French with details of the test result and date. Rapid antigen tests are not permitted.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged 11 years old and above.
Exemptions: Not specified.
Other measures: Passengers must complete a pre-boarding declaration form. All passengers aged six and over must wear masks on board a France-bound flight.
Post-arrival measures: Random Covid-19 testing on arrival. Voluntary seven-day isolation if a passenger tests positive for the virus, followed by further testing at the end of this period.
Guyana
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within 48 hours of departure to Guyana.
From: January 8, 2023.
Test type: PCR or antigen test, with a test certificate result.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged two years old and above.
Exemptions: Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before the flight who can provide documentation of recovery from Covid-19.
Italy
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within a maximum of 72 hours of departure to Italy.
From: December 28, 2022-January 31, 2023.
Test type: Molecular test within 72 hours of departure or antigen test within 48 hours of departure.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged six years old and above.
Exemptions: Transport crew and EU officials and officers, diplomats and other officials.
Post-arrival measures: On-arrival antigen swab test.
Qatar
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within 48 hours of departure to Qatar.
From: January 3, 2023.
Test type: PCR test.
Applicable age group: Not specified.
Exemptions: Not specified.
Other measures: Not specified.
Note: This requirement does not apply to passengers who transit through Qatar.
South Korea
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test results within a maximum of 48 hours of departure to in South Korea.
From: January 7-March 10, 2023.
Test type: Nucleic acid amplification test (PCR, RT-PCR, LAMP, TMA, SDA, NEAR) within 48 hours of arrival, or an antigen (RAT or AG) test administered by a medical professional within 24 hours of arrival into South Korea. Self-administered RATs are not accepted.
Applicable age group: Children under six years old.
Exemptions: Air crew, passengers entering South Korea for public official business trips or humanitarian reasons (eg., a funeral) .
Other measures: Register Covid-19 test results in Q-CODE system before arrival. From January 10, flights from Hong Kong to South Korea may only land at Incheon International Airport.
Note: Testing measures do not apply to passengers transiting through Hong Kong to South Korea.
United States of America
Testing requirement: Negative Covid-19 test result within two days of departure to the US.
From: January 5, 2023.
Test type: PCR or antigen self-test, administered and monitored by a telehealth service or a licensed provider authorised by the FDA.
Applicable age group: Travellers aged two years old and above.
Exemptions: Patients who have recovered from Covid-19 more than 10 days before their date of travel who can show documentation of their recovery.
Note: The testing requirements also apply to passengers from Hong Kong transiting through the US.
Countries with testing restrictions for China/People’s Republic of China
The following countries have imposed entry restrictions on travellers from China, but have not specified whether they apply to passengers from Hong Kong:
- Austria: Negative Covid-19 (PCR) test results within 48 hours of departure to Austria.
- Belgium: Negative Covid-19 (PCR or RAT with certificate) test results within 48 hours of departure to Belgium.
- Cyprus: Negative Covid-19 (PCR) test results within 48 hours of departure to Cyprus, from January 15-March 15, 2023.
- Chile: Negative PCR test prior to entering Chile.
- Ghana: Negative PCR test results within 48 hours of departure to Ghana, and mandatory on-arrival antigen test.
- Portugal: Negative Covid-19 test (PCR or TRAg) results for travellers on direct flights from China within 48 hours of departure to Portugal.
- State of Sabah, Malaysia: Negative Covid-19 (RT-PCR or RTK Ag Professional test) results within 48 hours of departure to Sabah.
Countries with testing restrictions only for Mainland China
Other restrictions
India
Random post-arrival testing for 2% of the total passengers on flights. Children under 12 years old are exempt from this measure.
Morocco
Travellers coming from China, irrespective of their nationality, cannot enter Morocco. The measure does not specifically mention Hong Kong.
Taiwan
Mainland passengers transiting to Taiwan via Hong Kong must provide negative PCR test results obtained within 48 hours or negative antigen test results obtained within 24 hours of their departure to Taiwan, from January 6-31, 2023.
Thailand
From January 9-January 31, 2023, all travellers to Thailand aged 18 and above must be either fully vaccinated against Covid-19, have proof of recovering from the virus within the past six months, or provide evidence from a doctor that they cannot receive the vaccination.
Header image credits: Emergenza coronavirus via WikiCommons
