Quarantine Exemption Followed Up

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been following up proactively on the arrangements to allow Hong Kong residents in Guangdong and Macau to return to Hong Kong without being subject to the 14-day compulsory quarantine.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung made the remarks when responding to lawmakers’ questions in the Legislative Council today.

He noted the Hong Kong SAR Government is considering putting in place a quota system whereby Hong Kong residents who obtain a quota and meet the conditions can be exempted from the 14-day compulsory quarantine upon their return to Hong Kong.

Details of the arrangements will be announced as soon as possible, Mr Cheung said.

For the early resumption of cross-boundary people flow, the Hong Kong SAR Government has been liaising closely with the governments of Guangdong and Macau under the framework of joint prevention and control to discuss the implementation proposal.

It seeks to allow mutual exemption of the compulsory quarantine requirement upon entry to the other side on the basis of the mutual conversion of health codes and mutual recognition of nucleic acid test results.

Details of the specific arrangements and implementation timeline will be subject to the development of the epidemic and further deliberations among the three places.

The Hong Kong SAR Government is closely monitoring the epidemic and actively discussing with Guangdong and Macau to implement the arrangements as soon as possible.