Quarantine reduction for Pax

[Rie]

Carrie lam says that HK needs to integrate more with China but hey at least they are dropping mandated prison time down. Maybe this will coax more into getting jabbed.

This will help boost passenger numbers. At least one step closer to a recovery.

• Quarantine reduction from 14 days to seven set to cover places classified as ‘high risk’ or lower including Canada, Japan, Britain, Singapore and the US
• Loosening of isolation rules likely to apply to residents who are double jabbed, test positive for antibodies and screen negative for the virus on their arrival from lower-risk countries

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3138131/coronavirus-hong-kong-reduce-covid-19-quarantine

The mandatory quarantine period for fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents testing positive for coronavirus antibodies on their return from lower-risk countries could be halved from 14 to seven days, the Post has learned.

Details of the latest arrangements are expected to be revealed at a Monday afternoon press conference led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, according to sources, with the government likely to adopt the recommendations of its scientific advisers to loosen quarantine rules.

Lam is also poised to announce the relaxation of some social-distancing measures.

The shortened quarantine period is set to cover residents who have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days and have returned from countries deemed to be “high risk” or lower for Covid-19. On arrival, they must test positive for antibodies against the coronavirus and negative for the virus itself.

The seven-day quarantine would be applicable to Hong Kong residents, including work-visa holders, returning from countries classified in high-risk Group B and medium-risk Group C under the city’s five-tier system for assessing the overseas Covid-19 threat.

Those returning from countries in A1 and A2 – judged to be extremely high risk and very high risk respectively – are either barred from returning altogether or have to quarantine for 21 days.

Fully vaccinated people arriving from the lowest-risk countries – Australia and New Zealand of Group D – can already take advantage of seven-day quarantine.

Government health advisers said earlier that testing for coronavirus antibodies could indicate whether international arrivals had been vaccinated.

Antibody testing of people undergoing quarantine might also help identify false negative cases to ensure asymptomatic infections did not enter the community, they added.

City leader Lam previously said she supported the experts’ suggestions for antibody testing and that health authorities were studying the detail of the proposals.