Arrivals From Taiwan To Face Hotel Quarantine

The SAR government on Friday announced tighter anti-epidemic measures for people flying in from Taiwan, after a spate of Covid-19 cases there.

Instead of home quarantine, arrivals will have to stay at a designated quarantine hotel for two weeks.

Speaking to lawmakers at a Legislative Council health services panel meeting, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said the new arrangement will be implemented "in a day or two", after it has been gazetted.

Chan said the new requirement is aimed at reducing the chance of coronavirus entering the local community.

Currently, travellers from Taiwan have to get tested on the 12th day of their home quarantine.

Under new rules, they will have to get tested three times during their stay at designated hotels, and must undergo another two tests, 16 and 19 days after their arrival.

DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat asked whether the government would track down nearly 500 people who arrived from Taiwan in the past month.

Quat said if these people were carrying Covid, they might have been asymptomatic during the incubation period.

Chan said in response that the arrivals would have tested negative at the airport before they were allowed into the community.