Hong Kong to Shorten 21-day Quarantine for Lower-Risk Travelers

Hong Kong plans to slash its mandatory quarantine period from 21 days to 14 days for some vaccinated travellers and reopen to low-risk tourists.

For the first time since borders closed in March 2020, the city will reopen to low-risk travellers from Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore who are not Hong Kong residents.

Visitors from these locations will qualify for a shortened 14-day quarantine period. This will be followed by a week of medical surveillance and Covid-19 testing on the 19th day, according to the South China Morning Post.

Fully vaccinated travellers who have visited medium-risk locations such as South Korea and Japan will also be eligible for a shortened quarantine of two weeks.

Meanwhile, in mid-April the city will ease its entry ban on Hong Kong residents in the UK, which came into effect last December. Travellers from the UK, however, will still be required to quarantine for the full three weeks upon arrival in Hong Kong.

The announcement comes as talk of a two-way travel bubble has resumed between Hong Kong and Singapore. The city is also looking to launch similar efforts with Australia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, reported the South China Morning Post.