12 Jan 2022 | 01:10 AM UTC
China: Authorities in Hong Kong ban transit of passengers from high-risk locations Jan. 15-Feb. 14 /update 84
Hong Kong, China, bans transit of passengers from high-risk locations Jan. 15-Feb. 14. Other international travel restrictions remain.
Event
Authorities in Hong Kong will ban the transit of travelers from around 150 high-risk locations under Group A, including Australia, Canada, France, the UK, and the US Jan. 15-Feb. 14. Exemptions are available for diplomats, government officials, and athletes and staff participating in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Further extensions to the ban are possible depending on COVID-19 activity.
Domestic Measures
Officials require entrants to most dining, entertainment, and fitness facilities to use the Leave Home Safe mobile application; alternative forms are available for exempted groups such as those aged above 65 years, those aged 15 years or below with no accompanying adult, and the disabled. Authorities are implementing a "vaccine bubble," which requires people entering high-risk venues to have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Hong Kong will also close recreational venues like nightclubs, pubs, fitness centers, and museums, and require restaurants to end dine-in services from 18:00 Jan. 7-20. Public gatherings remain limited to four people. Private events can occur at 50 percent of the venue's capacity; officials permit events at full capacity if at least two-thirds of attendees have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. The government allows seated entertainment venues to operate at 85-percent capacity, with groups of up to six people. Cruise journeys are suspended. Officials encourage workplaces to implement telecommuting arrangements, if possible. Residents must wear facemasks in all public areas, including on public transport.
Authorities continue to conduct mandatory testing for high-risk groups, including people who work or live at locations with reported outbreaks and employees in specific occupations. Officials also require residents that may have been exposed to COVID-19 to get tested. People who do not take required tests are subject to a fine of HKD 2,000; officials could impose a penalty of up to HKD 25,000 or prison sentences of up to six months for individuals who repeatedly fail to get tested. The government continues to order focused, short-duration lockdown orders in neighborhoods where officials suspect COVID-19 is spreading. Authorities usually select specific buildings within an area and require residents to remain at home until testing is complete. Shutdowns can occur without notice but typically take place overnight.
International Travel Restrictions
Authorities permit entry for travelers from Macau, Taiwan, and mainland China, provided they have not visited elsewhere in the past 21 days. Arrivals from mainland China and Macau must quarantine for 14 days at a hotel. However, a limited number of Hong Kong residents who have only visited low-risk areas in mainland China and Macau can forgo quarantine by making a reservation online and entering via Shenzhen Bay or Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge border checkpoints or Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). Officials have expanded the program to nonresidents who have been in Guangdong Province or Macau for the previous 14 days. Participants in the scheme must get six COVID-19 tests on specified days. All other border checkpoints remain closed. Vaccinated senior executives of selected publicly listed or registered financial services companies can enter if they meet specific criteria. Such travelers must undergo COVID-19 testing and adhere to approved itineraries.
The government classifies dozens of countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the UAE, and the UK, as high risk. Only fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents may enter from these locations. Permitted entrants must carry proof of vaccination, pre-departure testing, as well as a reservation at a designated quarantine hotel for at least 17 nights from the fifth day of arrival. Arrivals must quarantine for 21 days and take six tests. Individuals must also follow self-monitoring protocols for a week after quarantine ends and undergo additional COVID-19 testing on specified days.
Arrivals with a recent travel history to high-risk countries requiring enhanced measures must quarantine at the Penny's Bay Quarantine Center for four days and complete the remaining days of their 21-day quarantine at a pre-booked designated hotel. Impacted locations include Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, UK, the US, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. COVID-19 testing is mandatory on arrival, as well as daily for the first seven days, and on days 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19. Travelers must also self-monitor their health for an additional week after quarantine and take another COVID-19 test on day 26 of arrival. Further amendments to restrictions and the list of high-risk countries may occur on short notice in the coming weeks as new cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant emerge in other locations.
Authorities classify all other places as medium-risk; as of Jan. 11, no country is considered low-risk. Officials permit Hong Kong residents and fully vaccinated nonresidents from medium-risk countries to enter the territory. Residents who are not fully vaccinated must quarantine for 21 days and take six COVID-19 tests. Vaccinated arrivals from medium-risk locations and unvaccinated travelers from low-risk areas must quarantine for 14 days and take four tests during the quarantine period. Fully vaccinated arrivals from low-risk countries must quarantine for seven days and take two COVID-19 tests during the quarantine period. All vaccinated arrivals must follow self-monitoring protocols for a week after quarantine ends and undergo additional COVID-19 testing on specified days. Officials will isolate and treat symptomatic passengers or people testing positive for COVID-19 at government-designated facilities. A detailed list of location risk levels and quarantine and testing requirements is available here.
All arriving passengers must provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test result from a sample taken 48 hours or less before arrival; authorities calculate the sample time and date from the time zone of the inbound flight for connecting passengers. Travelers from mainland China must have testing conducted at laboratories mutually agreed upon by Guangdong Province and Hong Kong officials or approved by China's National Health Commission. All other entrants arriving at HKG must also provide documentation that the testing organization is ISO 15189 accredited or recognized by the government where the test occurred and a reservation at a designated quarantine hotel before boarding flights. Test results and other documentation must be in either Chinese or English. Arrivals must undergo on-arrival COVID-19 testing and remain in designated locations at HKG until receiving a negative result before continuing onto hotel quarantine.
Quarantine exemptions are available for limited groups such as officials on government duty, drivers of goods vehicles and coaches, and on-duty crew members of aircraft, goods vessels, and vessels that require shipping services. All exempted entrants will be subject to strengthened monitoring measures during self-isolation; most government officials will have to quarantine at designated facilities instead of their residences.
Air and maritime crews must self-isolate in their accommodations between shifts and may have to undergo additional routine testing. Airlines and shipping companies must arrange point-to-point transport for employees to limit interaction with the public. Under these requirements, ships without cargo cannot exchange crews. On other ships, workers cannot enter the territory and must travel directly to the airport after disembarking. Inbound ship and flight crew members must obtain a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours before departure for Hong Kong.
Advice
Follow all official instructions. Abide by local health and safety measures. Reconfirm all travel arrangements. Consider delaying traveling if experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, as they may prompt increased scrutiny and delays. Liaise with trusted contacts for further updates and guidance. Maintain contact with your diplomatic representation. Ensure contingency plans account for further disruptive measures or extensions of current restrictions. Reconsider and reconfirm nonemergency health appointments.
