DDHK. ORG – Regarding the quarantine period, Executive Council member Jeffrey Lam said on Saturday, the mainland's move to shorten it time that travelers who have to spend mask in quarantine will benefit the economy Hong Kong.
On Commercial Radio programme, Lam – who is also a legislator – said it would now be more convenient, for travelers to go to the mainland from Hong Kong, and for tourists to come to the SAR from across the border.
According to RTHK.hk, mainland authorities announced on Friday that inbound travelers will only need to spend five days – not seven – in centralized quarantine. They still have to self-isolate at home for the next three days.
“There is a charge every day [when you are quarantined]. You have to pay for a hotel room, and you can't work. So even though '5+3' isn't what some might expect, I think it's good. start," he told reporters after the program.
Apart from Quarantine
Business and Professional Alliance MPs said. he hopes the number of Hong Kongers allowed to travel to the mainland each day will increase, and some business travelers will be allowed to cross the border without quarantine.
Regarding local anti-Covid measures, Lam said medical surveillance rules for inbound travelers should be relaxed so that people can eat at restaurants during their first three days here, when they have a yellow code.
He said authorities should also reduce the number of PCR tests newcomers have to take, replacing them with rapid antigen tests, but he agreed that Covid-19 restrictions needed to be relaxed gradually.
Liberal Party leader Tommy Cheung, who represents the catering sector in the Legislative Council, spoke of the same program and echoed Lam's views.
"From an economic perspective, the catering sector certainly wants all measures to be relaxed, so there is no social distancing and no masks are needed. Many people want that. But we have to understand… we can't let our public hospitals collapse,” he said.
But Cheung's party mate, Peter Shiu, said he hoped the government would ease Covid restrictions more quickly to help the economy.
Shiu, a lawmaker for the retail sector, told the RTHK program that tourists would not return to the SAR if travel requirements here were stricter than elsewhere. [DDHK News]
