In a major boost to the tourism and aviation industry, the Hong Kong Government has scrapped all the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for arrivals into the city who test negative. Compulsory PCR tests are also scrapped for international passengers.
John Lee Ka-Chiu, Chief Executive, Executive Council said: “The decisions were based on data and risks. The infection risk from imported cases is lower than the risk from local infections. We believe that the lifting [of the measures] will not increase the risk of local outbreaks.”
Currently, travellers arriving in Hong Kong are put under the “0+3” regime under which they are issued an amber code on their health app even if they test negative and are banned from entering restaurants, gyms, and beauty parlors during their first three days, causing frustration among tourists as well as locals.
With the latest move, Hong Kong will be adopting the 0+0 regime under which travellers who test negative will be given a blue code on their health app and can move in the city freely.
However, travellers who test positive will receive a red health code and must follow the usual isolation protocols. Arrivals will also still need to take a PCR test at the airport and on their third day in the city, and a rapid antigen test (RAT) for five days.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific has released a statement welcoming Hong Kong’s decision to scrape the Amber code for inbound passengers.
The Cathay Pacific Group has already added about 3,000 passenger flight sectors in the Q4 of 2022 like direct flights to Tokyo (Haneda), Denpasar (Bali), and Zurich in November 2022, as well as Sapporo, Fukuoka, Penang, and Dhaka in December 2022 More popular destinations, are set to be resumed in 2023, including Phuket and Nagoya in January 2023.