CHINA. In a major boost to Hong Kong travel retailers and the wider economy in the Special Administrative Region (SAR), a reopening of the border with the Mainland now appears imminent.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a media conference yesterday: “Since Hong Kong has basically attained zero local cases for quite some time already, we have been working very closely with the Mainland authorities, and the Mainland experts, to gain confidence and justify that we have the readiness to resume travel.
“I’m very pleased that following the second meeting between the Hong Kong delegation and the Mainland delegation yesterday at Shenzhen we can now confirm that, according to the Mainland experts, Hong Kong now possesses the conditions for resuming travel. The resumption will have to take place in a gradual and orderly manner, so I would say that the Shenzhen meeting has reached an important milestone.”
[Click on the YouTube icon to listen to Carrie Lam’s remarks on the border reopening – from 2.07 minutes – yesterday]
On Thursday, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) revealed that while Hong Kong has met the basic requirements to allow the border to reopen, certain COVID-19 control refinements need to be made first. Key among those is the introduction of a Hong Kong Health Code that will allow the exchange of travellers’ identities and COVID-19 status with Mainland authorities. The new programme will be linked with the SAR’s existing ‘Leave Home Safe’ app.
A ‘circuit breaker’ will be put in place, similar to that in Macau where cross-border travel from the Mainland stops if a single infection is found in the SAR.
The SCMP previously reported that quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province could resume early next month, with a daily quota limited to 1,000 people and priority given on business or compassionate grounds.
Omicron variant unlikely to affect border reopening
Jin Dongyan, a biomedical professor at the University of Hong Kong, told Global Times on Friday that while people should be vigilant to the new variant, and the government should reinforce monitoring and research, there is no need to panic.
He said there is no data or evidence on its global threat and its effect on vaccine. Jin said the new cases should not have any effect on the planned border reopening.
