Hong Kong has no ‘timeline’ for easing tough international border controls

Hong Kong has “no definitive timeline” for lifting restrictions on international borders this year, a top official has said, despite the heavy toll the city’s zero-Covid policy has taken on its status as a transport and financial hub. Hong Kong’s elimination strategy, which involves 21 days of quarantine for international arrivals, has made it increasingly difficult for executives to use the city as a regional hub. Passenger flights to eight countries, including the UK and US, have been banned and air freight services reduced. The city will also ban transit flights from about 150 countries categorised as high risk because of the Omicron variant from Sunday for at least a month. But the chaos wrought by the global Omicron outbreak has reinforced the Hong Kong government and public’s confidence in the city’s zero-Covid strategy, said Edward Yau, secretary for commerce and economic development. “It will be hard to address [the question of a timeline], as it will be subject to a lot of conditions and situations . . . I think no one can give you a definite timeline as such,” Yau said. Hong Kong has recorded just 213 deaths from the pandemic and avoided citywide lockdowns. By contrast, the UK has registered 174,233 Covid-19 deaths. But international business has expressed concerns that the city has articulated no exit strategy and is becoming cut off from the world, leading to an exodus of talent.<br/>