
Asia Pacific Aug 9, 2022
How Hong Kong’s new China-inspired health code will work
The new rules, which come into effect on Friday, will mean arrivals at Hong Kong’s international airport must spend three days in hotel quarantine — down from seven.
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The new rules, which come into effect on Friday, will mean arrivals at Hong Kong’s international airport must spend three days in hotel quarantine — down from seven.
New arrivals will be required to go to an approved quarantine hotel and, if they test negative for COVID-19, can then serve four days of health monitoring either at home or in a hotel.
One former worker at a government-run isolation facility in Shanghai slept on the streets during parts of June since he couldn’t find work or housing after getting infected.
There was widespread disbelief that the new approach was likely to have an impact on the case counts, which have increased nearly fourfold to more than 1,000 a day since May.
The reversion to centralized quarantine runs counter to recent commentary from Hong Kong health experts that the public shouldn’t be too worried about new omicron subvariants.
While Chinese state media has refrained from accusing the U.S. of intentionally spreading monkeypox — an accusation it made about COVID-19 — many social media users haven’t held back.
The sweeping changes in how Hong Kong handles its still active outbreak come as residents’ tolerance for COVID-19 restrictions begins to fade.
Children have had less exposure to coronaviruses — including those that cause the common cold — due to school closures, and their immune systems may be less equipped to fight an infection.