Sweet early release beckons from today

Travelers who arrived in Hong Kong last week and have completed at least three days of hotel quarantine can be released today at the earliest.

Despite the new three-day hotel quarantine arrangement coming into effect on Friday, the government said those who have already undergone three days of isolation can be released even earlier.

"For arrivals who have completed at least three days of hotel quarantine, meaning those who arrived in the SAR between August 3 and August 8, the government will arrange for them to leave the hotels between August 9 and August 12 after confirming their negative PCR testing results," the government said yesterday.

The executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, Timothy Chui Ting-pong, said quarantine hotels have to handle more than 10,000 refunds and have to contact credit card companies for the refund arrangement. He appealed to customers to wait patiently for the refund which is expected to take days.

The government has said people could check out from quarantine as early as 9am on Day 3 of their arrival, which is a busy period in hotels as staff have to deliver breakfast and arrange PCR tests for customers.

Chui said hotels have to adjust their services. For example, hotels could require staff to deliver breakfast earlier so that they can help customers check out after breakfast.

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung told The Standard that quarantine hotels will face higher costs as they have to clean the quarantine rooms more frequently. He urged the government to support hotels facing a manpower shortage.

The Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners' Chan Wun-yin said the number of travelers will not rise rapidly and hotel income may be reduced due to the shorter quarantine period. She added that cleaning work will surge and it would be difficult to hire cleaning contractors if Covid-19 patients are detected in the hotels.

The vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, Ivan Sze Wing-hang, said cutting hotel quarantine will facilitate the resumption of exchange of businesses and trades as teleconferences cannot replace in-person meetings.

The government should also gradually cancel the mandatory hotel quarantine by replacing it with seven-day medical surveillance, it said.

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce supported the government's decision, saying lowering the number of days for hotel quarantine will help ease the burden on residents returning to the city and international travelers.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council said the new quarantine arrangement strikes a balance between public health and economic recovery, and "sends a positive signal to the global community and will help drive Hong Kong's economic momentum and strengthen the city's international competitiveness."

Lawmakers, including Holden Chow Ho-ding and Edward Leung Hei of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, and Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, said the government could further reopen the border with the mainland in the future.

Respiratory expert Leung Chi-chiu said the number of Omicron BA.5 cases detected locally has outnumbered imported cases, indicating that the imported cases have little impact on the local community.

Leung said the government could consider the daily caseload, vaccination status and manpower capacity when shortening the quarantine period for inbound travelers.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com