Hong Kongers won’t need to quarantine

Victoria Peak area to photograph Hong Kong's skyline.

HONG KONG — Travelers arriving in Hong Kong from mainland China will no longer need to quarantine, Hong Kong’s top official confirmed on Aug. 31, easing curbs imposed after outbreaks of the coronavirus on the mainland.

Starting Sept. 1, people who haven’t been to medium- or high-risk areas on the mainland or Macao can enter the city, capped at 2,000 travelers a day, chief executive Carrie Lam said in a news conference. Travelers will still need a negative COVID-19 test prior to arrival and must take several tests while in Hong Kong to ensure they’re not infected.

Hong Kong halted quarantine-free travel in early August and imposed a mandatory quarantine period of seven or 14 days, depending on the traveler’s vaccination status. Hong Kong’s “zero-COVID” strategy has seen authorities impose strict border restrictions and ban flights from extremely high-risk countries, in the hope that no local cases would allow it to reopen borders with mainland China.