Hong Kong eases entry for vaccinated residents, tourists

Hong Kong will allow vaccinated tourists from all but 10 places in the world to enter the city starting on Aug. 9, a significant easing of some of the tightest border curbs in the world. Vaccinated visitors from countries now considered “medium-risk” -- which includes the US and Canada -- will be able to enter the city for the first time since the pandemic started. Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents from previously banned places like the UK and India can now return home. Visitors and residents from medium-risk countries must spend seven days in hotel quarantine after they arrive. They will also be required to have a positive antibody test from a laboratory recognized by the Hong Kong government to prove they were vaccinated against Covid-19. Antibody testing facilities at the airport will be available starting in mid-August, according to a government statement. The easing, first announced by CE Carrie Lam on Monday without detail, also allows children who aren’t eligible for vaccination to leave hotel quarantine with their inoculated parents after seven days -- though they must then self-isolate at home for another two weeks. The revived plan, first proposed in June, comes as Hong Kong tries to reopen its economy after nearly two months without local transmission, while keeping out the highly contagious delta strain that’s driving new outbreaks around the world.<br/>