Hong Kong Reduces Covid-19 Hotel Quarantine To 3 Days For New Travellers

It’s about time: the Hong Kong government has announced the biggest loosening of its Covid-19 quarantine regulations since the pandemic began. In yesterday morning’s briefing, Chief Executive John Lee announced that the seven-day mandatory hotel quarantine currently in place will be cut to three days, with four days of “health monitoring” to follow. This new development kicks in starting Friday, August 12.

During the four days of health monitoring, arrivals are free to leave home with a negative daily rapid antigen test (RAT) result; however, they will still not be permitted to enter vaccine-pass venues during that period.

More details about the new quarantine guidelines in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government also announced the implementation of Red, Yellow and Blue Codes.

Those who are Covid positive will be marked as red, and will not be permitted to leave isolation.

Those under monitoring will be marked as yellow, but will be allowed to leave for work, school and be able to take public transportation with a negative RAT test result. They will not be permitted to enter vaccine pass venues (ie: restaurants and bars) during this period.

Those once all clear of monitoring and testing negative will be marked as blue.

The changes were made as the government noted seven-day hotel quarantine was “not cost effective” and the majority of cases will be caught within the initial three day period.

This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong