Hong Kong lifts flight bans, suspends mandatory mass testing amid waning tolerance for ‘zero covid’

The changes underscore a mounting pressure for Hong Kong officials to not only prioritize reopening the border with mainland China but also restore its international ties, as more companies and professionals abandon the city citing pandemic restrictions.

Starting April 1, flights will be allowed in from nine countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and the Philippines. These routes were banned in January after the highly transmissible omicron variant was first detected here, but the rate of covid infections and fatalities in Hong Kong is now higher than any of those countries.

For two years, Hong Kong held off the pandemic. Then, everything fell apart.

Only fully vaccinated residents will be allowed to enter the city. Arriving residents from countries other than mainland China will need to quarantine in a hotel room for seven days, down from 14.

The measures are the first major moves, though limited, to begin reopening Hong Kong’s borders which have largely been shut since the start of the pandemic two years ago. They also come as Hong Kong’s own local covid situation worsens, with rising number of infections and deaths since February. As of March 20, the total number of cases has reached over 1 million (out of a population of 7.5 million); 5,600 deaths were recorded in the latest pandemic wave, surpassing that of Wuhan, the pandemic epicenter, in the past two years.

Experts have urged the city to lift flight bans as they make no sense when the risk of incoming travelers to spread the disease being lower than those living in the dense city.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, announcing the policy changes in a news conference Monday, said the flight ban was “outdated.”

“The situation [in these countries] aren’t as bad as Hong Kong’s,” Lam said. “It will bring inconvenience to Hong Kong locals stuck in these nine countries.”

Lam also noted that public opinion believes that the quarantine and testing requirements for incoming travelers is “harsher” than that of locals in the community.

“This can affect Hong Kong’s international status,” Lam said.

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Hong Kong’s zero-covid policy of preventing any kind of infection with severe restrictions has begun to show cracks, revealing itself as both ineffective while it weighs on the population financially and emotionally. The strict rules have prompted a massive flight of people out of the city.

In February, Hong Kong recorded a total net loss of 65,000 residents; a consistent daily net loss of thousands has been recorded for nearly two months, an unprecedented trend in the past two years.

The zero-covid strategy is also starting to show cracks in China itself. On March 11, the mainland reported its highest number of covid-19 cases since the early days of the pandemic, with 1,100 infections spread across 18 provinces and cities. And while zero covid remains official policy, experts have announced the development of a road map toward an eventual “coexistence” with the virus.

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Lam said that Hong Kong will have to reopen slowly, starting in three stages from late April while the government works to push up vaccination rates among the more vulnerable children and seniors over age 70. By late May, residents will need three doses of vaccines to access most facilities and restaurants. Both the Pfizer and Sinovac shots are available in Hong Kong.

As Hong Kong’s latest outbreak worsened, authorities initially announced in late February that every resident will need to get tested for covid three times in a mass testing exercise, similar to those imposed on other Chinese cities since the start of the pandemic. Lam said Monday that this arrangement will be “suspended” as Hong Kong has “weak community organization capacity” compared to the mainland. Instead, resources should be focused in reducing deaths and severe cases, she said.

Lam, however, pushed back on the idea that Hong Kong is effectively moving away from the zero-covid strategy. Instead, Lam stressed that the city will take into account connectivity with both the mainland and with the outside world.

“I advise you need not draw any conclusion of where we are heading toward in the announcement we have made today,” Lam said.