Hong Kong on Monday laid out plans to cut back on some of the world’s toughest virus restrictions, including lifting flight bans and shortening its quarantine period, in its most dramatic shift yet away from a zero-COVID policy.
The easing was embraced by some in the financial hub’s embattled business community and comes as frustration boils over the tough measures, which have taken a bite out of Hong Kong’s economy.
Flights from nine countries, including the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and Canada, will be allowed to resume, starting April 1, after a nearly three-month ban, while a 14-day hotel quarantine will be cut to one week for incoming passengers if they test negative during their final three days in isolation, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, citing a decline in infections.
But the relaxed border policy only applies to Hong Kong residents, rather than tourists who are still barred from visiting the city.
On Monday, flagship carrier Cathay Pacific’s shares rose 0.39% to 7.76 Hong Kong dollars (99 cents), their highest close in more than a year. Earnings at the airline, which this month reported a nearly $800 million loss for 2021, have been dented by a plunge in passenger traffic.
Officials would also consider relaxing social-distancing restrictions after April 20, when the current measures are due to expire, “to try to provide as much direction as possible for businesses and the people of Hong Kong,” Lam said.
Michael Moriarty, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland, welcomed the new policies as the theme park reported a HK$2.4 billion loss for last year. The attraction has been closed to visitors for several months and was periodically shut during 2021.
“I’m extremely optimistic after today’s news (of) opening in late April,” Moriarty said in a conference call Monday.
Last week, Lam acknowledged that Hong Kongers were becoming increasingly frustrated with strict virus-control measures as the territory battled its worst outbreak since the pandemic began two years ago, prompting thousands to leave.
“We will widely consult various stakeholders… to come up with a more permanent pathway for Hong Kong to tackle any public health crisis in a more targeted manner,” Lam told reporters on Monday. “We should also take into account the impact it has on socioeconomic development,” she added.
Primary schools and kindergartens will resume face-to-face classes from April 19, Lam said.
“The [coronavirus] situation in Hong Kong and overseas isn’t very different, so there is no real need for such comprehensive restrictions,” said respiratory disease specialist Leung Chi-chiu, referring to the flight bans and two-week quarantine.
Relaxing border controls while thousands of infections are still being recorded daily marks a sharp departure from Hong Kong’s “dynamic zero” strategy, which was seen as key to reopening the border with mainland China.
Last week, the industrial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen were temporarily locked down as China also recorded its highest case rates since respiratory illness was first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. But Beijing has also recently signaled that it may shift to more targeted measures.
Hong Kong had previously avoided the worst of the pandemic as it largely shut the city of 7.4 million people off from the outside world with policies that mirrored Beijing’s measures.
But the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant tested that strategy, sending infections and deaths to their highest levels. In recent months, Hong Kong has recorded more than 1 million infections and over 5,600 deaths, mostly among unvaccinated elderly residents.
In response, Hong Kong effectively shut its borders and rolled out its strictest social distancing measures, including limiting public gatherings to two people and closing bars, gyms and other venues, even as many countries around the world shifted to living with the virus.
Earlier news of a now-canceled plan to mass test all Hong Kong residents sparked panic buying with many supermarket shelves left bare.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s statistics agency reported that consumer prices rose 1.6% in February over the same month a year ago, picking up pace from a 1.2% on-year rise in January, largely due to an increase in the price of fresh vegetables.
The government’s slow reaction to the omicron-fueled outbreak triggered a directive from Beijing to contain transmissions, while health experts and business leaders alike criticized the measures for damaging Hong Kong’s reputation and business confidence.
This month, Asia-focused insurer Prudential said Hong Kong’s “challenging” virus policies could mean that its next chief executive would start the job elsewhere before eventually moving to the city.
“Businesses need stability and we can now really start planning,” said Hong Kong business magnate Allan Zeman.
Expatriates and business executives are among the thousands who have fled Hong Kong during the latest wave.
The European Union’s office in the city said that more than 10% of EU citizens previously living in Hong Kong have departed and that it expected more to leave in the coming months.
But the easing will not come soon enough for scores of small businesses that have shuttered under the weight of strict measures. “Why will it take a month?” said Danny Lau, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprise Association. “We have many disappointed members who can no longer wait after being shut for so long.”
