Hong Kong’s closed borders are in contrast to Asian countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which are taking steps to allow vaccinated travellers to enter freely
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, said she was hopeful the international financial hub could lower barriers with the outside world after the current Covid-19 outbreak waned.
Hong Kong’s government has shifted away from its tough Covid-19-zero stance after being overwhelmed by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Hotel quarantine for arrivals will be halved to seven days from next week, while flight bans on some countries will be lifted. Yet many business groups say the government isn’t going far enough. Lam said on Wednesday that officials were looking at ways to resolve flight and hotel room shortages under existing rules.
Hong Kong’s continued isolation and social-distancing rules have led to an exodus of residents as well as increasing economic hardship. A net 144,000 people have left the city in 2022, almost four times the number for the whole of 2021, according to official data and Bloomberg Intelligence calculations. The economy is struggling, with analysts steadily downgrading their growth forecasts for 2022.
Hong Kong’s closed borders are in contrast to a growing number of countries in Asia, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which are taking steps to allow vaccinated travellers to enter freely. Senior officials in Singapore have said the country is looking to restore passenger volume at Changi Airport to at least 50% of pre-pandemic levels by later in 2022, compared to 18.2% currently.
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