Actress Nicole Kidman, who flew to Hong Kong from Australia earlier this week to film an Amazon series, was excused from the city’s strict quarantine rules for arrivals.
The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) told local media Wednesday that Kidman received a quarantine exemption.
The CEDB, which currently only has quarantine exemption schemes for businesspeople working in manufacturing in mainland China, has not responded to Coconuts‘ request for comment at the time of writing.
According to Daily Mail Australia, Kidman boarded a Hong Kong-bound private jet in Sydney last Thursday to begin her latest filming project.
The Hollywood star is co-executive producing “Expats,” an Amazon drama series based on a book by Hong Kong-born American author Janice Y.K. Lee.
Voices on social media have taken aim at the the series, accusing it of ignoring Hong Kong’s political reality and focusing on a privileged class immune from the government’s whimsical crackdowns.
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Earlier this week, Kidman was spotted filming at Peak School and along Hill Road in Sai Wan.
Under the rules of the government exemption, she—and presumably others who are part of the film crew—has to show proof of vaccination, undergo regular COVID-19 testing and provide a trip itinerary.
Flying in from Australia, Kidman would otherwise have had to undergo seven days of hotel quarantine. Chinese University professor David Hui, who also advises the government on its pandemic response, said the Delta variant outbreak in Sydney is worsening and that her being excused could pose a threat to Hong Kong.
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