From Aug 9, HK to ease entry for vaccinated residents, tourists

Hong Kong

HONG Kong will allow vaccinated tourists from all but 10 places in the world to enter the city starting on Aug 9, a significant easing of some of the tightest border curbs in the world.

Vaccinated visitors from countries now considered "medium-risk" - which includes the United States and Canada - will be able to enter the city for the first time since the pandemic started.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents from previously banned places like the United Kingdom and India can now return home.

Visitors and residents from medium-risk countries must spend seven days in hotel quarantine after they arrive.

They will also be required to have a positive antibody test from a laboratory recognised by the Hong Kong government to prove they were vaccinated against Covid-19.

Antibody testing facilities at the airport will be available starting in mid-August, according to a government statement.

The easing, first announced by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam on Monday without details, also allows children who are not eligible for vaccination to leave hotel quarantine with their inoculated parents after seven days - although they must then self-isolate at home for another two weeks.

The revived plan, first proposed in June, comes as Hong Kong tries to reopen its economy after nearly two months without local transmission, while keeping out the highly contagious Delta strain that is driving new outbreaks around the world.

The move was welcomed by local business leaders.

"This is a very positive step to help Hong Kong get back to the crucial connectivity it needs as an international business centre, while remaining vigilant about Covid-19," said Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Although low vaccination levels locally means that Delta slipping into the city could quickly become catastrophic, the financial hub is also facing pressure from businesses to relax what are some of the most onerous travel curbs in the world.

Rival hub Singapore has said it will ease travel curbs in September after an inoculation rate of 80 per cent is achieved there.

The easing leaves only 10 places in the world, including the UK, India and Brazil, where non-residents remain banned. For these "high-risk" places, only fully inoculated residents can return and they must serve a hotel quarantine period of 21 days.

The Hong Kong government also dialled up the pressure on the local population to get vaccinated, saying that only schools which achieve a 70 per cent vaccination level among students in the grade can fully resume in-person teaching in September.

Teachers must also get inoculated or go for regular testing at their own expense, officials said Monday.

Hong Kong has fully vaccinated 2.5 million people - about 33 per cent of its population. That's compared to 61 per cent of residents who had completed vaccination in Singapore, 48 per cent in London and 54 per cent in New York City.

Vaccine bookings jumped on Monday after officials announced the easing, with the number of people reserving slots to get the Sinovac Biotech shot growing to 6,600 on Monday from 4,200 on Sunday and those for the BioNTech SE vaccine rising to 41,600 from 23,100 a day ago. BLOOMBERG