Covid-19: Hong Kong tightens vaccine boarding rules for travellers from high-risk countries

People who want to travel to Hong Kong from high-risk Covid-19 jurisdictions will only be allowed to board a flight to the city if they can present proof that they have been vaccinated in a designated list of just 36 countries worldwide, the government has announced.

City officials have also said that people travelling into Hong Kong from mid to low-risk countries, including Taiwan, will face no boarding difficulties as long as they can produce valid immunisation records, regardless of the origin of the jab.

The authorities announced that, from midnight on Friday, residents who had stayed in Group A countries 21 days prior to departure must present recognised vaccination records when boarding flights for the city. The records include those issued by Hong Kong, by an authority of a country designated as “stringent regulatory authority” by the WHO, by Mainland or Macau authorities or by authorities of a country with bilateral vaccination record recognition agreement with Hong Kong.

On entering the city, all vaccinated travellers from medium-risk Group B countries and Taiwan will have to undergo 14 days hotel quarantine, while those from low-risk Group C countries as well as mainland China and Macau will require seven days of quarantine, provided that they present immunisation records issued by authorities in the places the jabs were administered.

Unvaccinated residents and non residents travelling from Group B countries or Taiwan will have to stay 21 days in quarantine while those from Group C countries or the mainland will have to be in quarantine for 14 days.

Authorities updated details for incoming travellers from various regions and depending on their vaccination status on Wednesday.

Burst bubble

The Hong Kong government also announced on Friday that its plan to create a quarantine-free travel bubble with Singapore has been cancelled permanently, after the Lion City adopted a “Covid-19 resilient” strategy which includes a learning to live with the virus component.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong remains on the path of having zero infections.

Hong Kong has “a set of very stringent requirements” in terms of controlling the number of coronavirus requirements in the city, and Singapore’s differing strategies led the government to “put a pause” on the bilateral arrangements, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau told reporters on Friday.

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