Hong Kong has continued its streak of no new COVID-19 cases yet again, marking this the fifth time in nine days and the third consecutive day that the city’s number of coronavirus cases has not increased.
As per usual, the city’s health officials are encouraging citizens to continue practicing good hygiene and social distancing. A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department issued a statement today urging the public not to participate in grave-sweeping over the four-day weekend in order to avoid crowds and reduce the risk of infection.
Meanwhile, the government has announced plans to relax quarantine requirements for some visitors from mainland China, while extending immigration restrictions for other visitors by a month.
During a press conference this afternoon, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan announced that cross-border students and mainland visitors holding business visit endorsements would be exempt from the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Chan said the decision was made because the government was satisfied that the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China was mostly under control.
However, returning citizens — and general visitors from mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau who haven’t been abroad in the last two weeks — are still required to complete a 14-day quarantine, while the ban on foreign visitors has also been extended until June 7. The government’s requirement for arrivals to report their health and travel history to a doctor upon entering Hong Kong has also been extended until August 31.
Residents of Hubei province — and any Hong Kong residents who have been in Hubei within the last 14 days — are still not allowed into Hong Kong.
