'Test and hold' or 'test and go'?

Planners involved in dealing with the pandemic are swinging between a "test and hold" and a "test and go" PCR arrangement at the airport for overseas arrivals.

That comes as they look to do away with hotel quarantine in Hong Kong and pre-flight PCR Covid test requirements for incoming passengers altogether.

Authorities are holding more frequent interdepartmental meetings to push the "0+7" quarantine arrangement for inbound travelers, which would mean observing a seven-day medical surveillance at a hotel or at home.

It is understood arrivals would no longer be required to undergo PCR tests before boarding a plane as many countries have "lived with the virus" and it is also expensive for travelers to be tested and to have a result overseas within 48 hours.

Instead, they will have to undergo a PCR test at Hong Kong International Airport upon arrival.

But officials have not decided whether people should wait for a result at the airport, which could defeat the purpose of easing problems for arrivals.

Currently, arrivals are given both PCR and rapid tests at the airport. Those testing negative in a rapid test can head to a quarantine hotel without needing to wait for a PCR test result.

Insiders said the administration believes the test and hold arrangement, which requires all arrivals to wait for a PCR result at the airport, is best for limiting the risk of transmission in the community.

But also to be considered is the fact that airport waiting will need a large number of staff and resources deployed to speed up the testing process.

If the test and go arrangement is accepted the risk of imported cases entering the local community will be higher and could lead to public criticism if transmissions occur.

The choices are the cause for the more meetings on implementing a 0+7 arrangement.

Administration officials agree that ending hotel quarantine could trigger outbreaks, but they see that risk as manageable considering there are presently far fewer imported cases than local infections.

Four University of Hong Kong health experts, including government adviser Yuen Kwok-yung, said in an article yesterday that the Covid death rate since June has dropped to 0.097 percent.

So they believe Hong Kong is in shape to cancel hotel quarantine for arrivals.

And Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said the administration will make a decision on the 0+7 arrangement soon.

Returning from a trip to Cambodia, Yau added that most local business people do not have a problem with the current 3+4 arrangement but want a further relaxation.

He said too that officials have been warned by some companies that mandatory quarantine undermines the city's competitiveness and so authorities will make a decision on what comes next after studying data.

Yau also said the administration will come up with new measures to attract talent to offset the brain drain.

Henry Tang Ying-yen, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, welcomed the prospect of relaxing inbound quarantine measures.

"Hongkongers have been suffering," he said and many businesses both old and new have had to close.

"Therefore, we should relax border measures as soon as possible as long as the local pandemic is under control to allow people to enter the mainland for business or visiting relatives.

"We should also enhance connections with countries to maintain our advantages."

Meanwhile, officials in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued draft rules aimed at making it easier for foreigners to enter the mainland for visits to tourist sites near Chinese borderlands.

Travel agencies operating in border areas can choose ports of entry and exits "flexibly," it was said.

Hong Kong infections fell to 6,260 - the lowest number reported this month - with 174 of the cases imported. There were 10 deaths linked to infections.

Among the 6,086 local infections, 1,881 were reported from 886 schools, health authorities said. That caused 20 schools having to suspend classes for a week.

Three care homes for the elderly and one home for the disabled reported a total of eight infections between them.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com