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Original caption: Hong Kong to start “one way customs clearance” on 23 November with a daily quota of 5,000 people
Hong Kong Food and Health Bureau Director Chen Zhaoshi told the media on November 11 that since November 23, Hong Kong residents returning to Hong Kong from Guangdong and Macao via land ports Designated and pass customs with a negative nucleic acid test may be exempt from mandatory quarantine for 14 days.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region implemented the “Regulations on Mandatory Quarantine for Certain Persons Arriving in Hong Kong” on February 8, requiring that those who have visited the mainland within 14 days be subject to quarantine. mandatory 14 days. The mandatory quarantine order has been in place for 9 months. . The latest measures indicate that Hong Kong will achieve “one-way customs clearance” with the mainland.
Hong Kong residents currently living in Guangdong and Macao may be exempt from mandatory quarantine for 14 days after arriving in Hong Kong after obtaining quotas, but still must undergo mandatory quarantine after returning to the mainland. It is understood that the Shenzhen Bay port has a daily quota of 3,000 people and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port has a daily quota of 2,000 people in the initial stage of the plan.
The online dating system will open on November 18. Applicants must not have been to regions outside Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macao within 14 days, and obtain the “Easy Return to Hong Kong” quota online on a first-come, first-served basis. Nucleic acid tests were performed by local government recognized testing institutions and the results were negative. Applicants must upload the test results to the designated website and obtain a green QR code prior to departure. They can be quarantined for 14 days after returning to Hong Kong.
Local cases in Hong Kong hit a new one-month high
According to data released by the Hong Kong Department of Health on November 10, there were 9 new confirmed cases, of which 5 were local cases and there were no cases of unknown origin. The number of confirmed diagnoses in a single day reached a new record in one month, which is still a long way from the goal of “clearing up” on the 14th.
Chen Zhaoshi candidly said that since the third wave of the epidemic broke out in late July, there have been sporadic cases in the past week, and the community still has an invisible chain of transmission. Small clusters of outbreaks in the community, including past clusters on hotel vacations, have been led by various reasons, and follow-up work is still ongoing. The 7-day average of cases of unknown origin has risen from 0.4 in early November to 1.1.
“The number of cases of unknown origin in the last week has risen to 0.6%, which should not be ignored. In the last 14 days, there were 60 imported cases. The epidemic situation in Europe is worsening. The cases are expected to imports remain high in the future. The fourth wave of the epidemic in China is about to break out. Therefore, we must strictly adopt the strategy of ‘external prevention of import and internal prevention of proliferation’, further toughen the current agreements and be faster and more effective, “said Chen Zhaoshi.
Strictly prevent entry
In recent days, several confirmed cases involved people exempted from quarantine. On November 10, three cases were in the relatives of previously confirmed crew members.
Chen Zhaoshi announced that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will comprehensively tighten a new round of restrictions against the epidemic. As of November 13, all people entering from outside of China must be quarantined in hotels and managed centrally to reduce the chance of infecting people living with them during home quarantine. Passengers must provide a 14-day booking confirmation at a Hong Kong hotel and a negative test result before boarding, otherwise they will not be allowed to board. After arriving in Hong Kong, they need to be evaluated and only after the results are available will they be evaluated at the hotel. Currently, these people can choose to stay at home.
In addition to the existing circuit breaker mechanism, that is, 5 people on the same flight or 3 people on two consecutive flights, and the plane must be banned from flying to Hong Kong for 14 days, the SAR government has imposed new conditions of prohibition of flights. If the airline allows passengers to board the flight when they do not provide the hotel reservation confirmation or inspection report and other relevant documents, the government will consider requesting the airline to suspend flights on the route in question, and will even consider prosecution or other punitive measures.
The RAE government stated that the arrangements for people exempted from quarantine will be stricter across the board. Chen Zhaoshi pointed out that people who have come to Hong Kong from extremely high-risk areas and those who have visited high-risk areas, even if they are exempt from quarantine, must undergo nucleic acid testing within 48 hours after the departure and after arrival in Hong Kong.
Any crew member coming to Hong Kong from high-risk areas must wait for the test results to be released; Foreign consulate staff and consuls general coming to Hong Kong from high-risk areas should use point-to-point transportation after arriving in Hong Kong, not public transportation. Tools, and you need to isolate yourself for 14 days at the institution location, and retest on the 12th day after your arrival in Hong Kong.
In addition, to further improve testing services, the SAR government has decided to establish four long-term test centers on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories West and New Territories East, which will be commissioned on 15 of November. Citizens can take tests and obtain certificates on their own, with a fee of HK $ 240 each time.
Xue Yongheng, director of the Hong Kong Office of Innovation and Technology, candidly said that under the new normal of the epidemic, it is necessary to use technology to restore normal social interaction. Therefore, the SAR government will launch on November 16 the mobile application “Travel with peace of mind” called the Hong Kong version of the “Health Code” to store users’ travel records and track close contacts if necessary. To eliminate concerns about user privacy, the program is voluntary and independent records.
He stressed that the application does not require user registration, does not need to know the user’s name, does not use the GPS function in the phone, and does not support user information in the government system. Travel data will be encrypted and recorded on the user’s mobile phone and automatically deleted within 31 days. Currently, more than 6,000 public and private places have participated in the scheme, and 118,000 taxis can be used directly in Hong Kong.
Launched the first “tourist bubble”
As a small and very open economy, Hong Kong’s tourism, convention and exhibition industries are highly dependent on foreign markets. Affected by the epidemic, Hong Kong’s tourism industry has stagnated. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has so far made preliminary contacts with 11 countries to discuss whether they can resume travel under certain circumstances in the form of “tourist bubbles.”
Hong Kong and Singapore have close links in trade, investment, finance and tourism, and frequent exchanges of personnel. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two locations were major aviation hubs and the routes between the two locations were one of the busiest international routes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Hong Kong’s Secretary of Trade and Economic Development stated that Hong Kong and Singapore will resume cross-border air exchanges between the two locations and set sail on November 22. This is the first “tourism bubble” that Hong Kong has reached with the overseas regions. Upon arrival, passengers will be exempt from quarantine or home isolation, and travel is not restricted.
Under the agreement, passengers must undergo mutual recognition virus testing between the two locations within 72 hours of departure and have not been outside of Hong Kong or Singapore 14 days prior to departure. Passengers will use a dedicated airliner, one flight per day for the first 15 days, and then two flights per day. The maximum number of passengers per flight is 200. After arriving in Hong Kong, passengers will use the dedicated channel to test again. Once more than 5 cases are diagnosed in the two places in Japan alone, the “tourism bubble” plan will be suspended for two weeks.
(Author: Zhu Lina edit: and good)
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