'End hotel quarantine' call grows louder

Hong Kong needs to scrap Covid hotel quarantine for incoming travelers as soon as possible to avoid further cancellations of large-scale international events, says Executive Councilor and commercial sector lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the city's largest pro-establishment party, echoed his call for a "0+7" rule.

Their calls came two days after the organizers of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon canceled November's race, and a day after organizers announced the relocation of the 2023 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships to Thailand.

On Saturday, the Secretary for Health, Lo Chung-mau, hinted it could happen, saying the government is actively considering scrapping the hotel quarantine rule.

Speaking on a radio program yesterday, Lam said the government should scrap hotel quarantine and consider relaxing quarantine measures to seven or even three days of medical surveillance as soon as possible.

"If you can't cut days spent in hotel quarantine down to zero right away, could you do zero plus seven? It'd be even better if it's zero plus three," he said of the pressing need to eliminate hotel quarantine for inbound travelers, adding that the number of confirmed cases has not increased significantly after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Lam also said he was disappointed with the cancellation of the two flagship sports events, and that it would be too late to set a deadline for scrapping hotel quarantine for the end of the year.

Quarantine restrictions have forced more than 100,000 professionals out of the city, he said.

The situation in the accounting sector is particularly alarming, Lam said, citing Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce figures that 38 percent of companies in the finance and accounting sectors are planning to pull out of the city, 14 percent of which have no plans to return.

He called on the government to issue tax breaks to incoming talents, as well as concessions on education and housing, including allowing long-term migrants in the city to be exempted from double stamp duty when purchasing property.

At a press briefing yesterday, DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king said the party expects the government to implement a "0+7" system as soon as conditions are favorable. "I am confident that Hong Kong's vitality and its role as a super-connector will be restored as soon as the epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic measures are set into motion," she said.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong Research Association report has revealed that almost half of the 1,246 respondents support scrapping hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals, while around a third did not support that proposal.

Speaking on a television program yesterday, the chairman of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Microbiology, Kelvin To Kai-wang, said quarantine measures should be relaxed before November, citing a decreasing trend in cases and mortality rate.

"The important thing now is to acknowledge that Covid-related deaths have been on the decline. The government now has more room to consider relaxing quarantine measures," he said.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com