Hong Kong scraps most Covid restrictions

• Hong Kong is relaxing almost all Covid prohibitions, following China’s lead.
• Starting Thursday, visitors won’t have to undergo PCR tests.
• Outside gathering restrictions will be lifted.

This week, Hong Kong is lifting practically all of its bans on the use of Covid, following the example set by mainland China.

Beginning on Thursday, visitors entering the city—a special administrative zone of China—will not be required to undergo mandatory PCR tests.

The immunization pass program will also be eliminated, but public locations will still require masks.

The city, which had imposed some of the strictest regulations in the world, has made a drastic change.

On Thursday, the restriction on the maximum number of individuals who may congregate outside will also be eliminated.

As part of the steps to start restoring the city, this was expanded from four persons in October.

High vaccination rates were one of the justifications given for removing limitations by Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee.

Government statistics show that more than 83% of the population has taken three doses of the vaccine, compared to 93% who have received two.

Hong Kong has employed mRNA vaccinations, notably the German-made BioNTech shot, which have been found to be more effective than mainland China’s own vaccines.

“Hong Kong has a sufficient amount of medicine to fight Covid, and healthcare workers have gained rich experience in facing the pandemic,” Mr. Lee said on Wednesday.

“The society has established a relatively extensive and overall anti-epidemic barrier.”

Mr. John Lee added that instead of the vaccine pass, which has limited access to public places for unvaccinated since it was introduced in February, the city would take “more targeted measures” – including promoting vaccination for the elderly and children.

More than 11,000 people have died with Covid in Hong Kong, according to official numbers, from more than 2.5m cases.

Since the pandemic began, the city has largely followed mainland China’s lead in efforts to tackle the virus, including attempts to eliminate it with a “zero-Covid” strategy.

Some locals and business owners have criticized this, claiming it has harmed Hong Kong’s economy and reputation abroad.

Following significant protests against the stringent limitations, mainland China made a similar step a few weeks prior to Hong Kong’s removal of the Covid restrictions.

Beijing unveiled new plans to relax travel restrictions on Monday and Tuesday. Before the middle of January, Hong Kong has promised to fully restore its borders with the rest of China.

There is a current spike in instances on the mainland, and reports indicate that hospitals are overflowing and seniors are passing away.

The “one country, two systems” idea applies to Hong Kong, which is a part of China, but Beijing has tightened its grip recently.

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