Hong Kong eases COVID-19 rules for aircrews, lifts overseas travel alert

[Guest reader]

From Channel  News Asia

HONG KONG: Hong Kong will shorten mandatory hotel quarantine for passenger flight crews to three days from seven, while cargo crews will be exempt, modest steps at unwinding coronavirus curbs that have turned the city into one of the world's most isolated places.

The changes, which take effect in May, give the global financial hub's aviation trade and logistics industries "much-needed survival space", the government said in a statement on Friday (Apr 29).

Hong Kong said it was also lifting an outbound travel alert on overseas countries from May, more than two years after it was first implemented in March 2020.

"The epidemic situations in overseas countries/territories with frequent traffic with Hong Kong have generally been on a downward trend ... The risk of travelling overseas has lowered relatively," the government said in a separate statement.

Hong Kong has some of the world's strictest COVID-19 rules. Non-residents will be allowed to enter the city for the first time in more than two years from May, the government announced on Apr 22.

It has also slightly adjusted rules for airlines that carry infected COVID-19 patients, with the threshold for suspending incoming flights rising to five infected passengers from three currently. A ban on individual airline routes will be shortened to five days from seven from May.

Daily infections have dropped below 1,000 in the past two weeks from a peak of more than 70,000 on Mar 3.

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Star Ferry needs rescue plan as tourism drops

HONG KONG: The Star Ferry, an icon of Hong Kong and arguably the world's most famous ferry ride, is in financial trouble. But in typical fashion for the city, billionaires — and shopping — could hold the key to its survival. 

The 142-year-old ferry, which transports passengers across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong island to the Kowloon mainland, is seriously indebted. The Star Ferry Company saw a loss of more than HK$70 million (US$8.9 million) since mid-2019 when mass protests erupted in the city, according to a company statement in March. Its two ferry routes recorded 1 million passengers in the first two months of the year — just 27 per cent of the level in 2019.  

“At present, I don’t dare to be optimistic that the Star Ferry can survive this wave of blows,” General Manager David Chow said in the statement. The company is now relying solely on loans to get by, including to pay employees. 

These operation statistics would normally suggest an imminent collapse for an ordinary company, but the Star Ferry will likely live on thanks to the backing of a billionaire family and its retail ambitions — and deep love in the city for an institution that many will be saddened to lose.

The Star Ferry Company is owned by property developer Wharf Holdings, which operates the ferry on a 15-year franchise granted by the government. Meanwhile, the Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of Hong Kong's most popular shopping destinations, is just minutes-walk away from Harbour City, the flagship mall of Wharf. 

[numerito]

15 hours ago, reader said:

Hong Kong has some of the world's strictest COVID-19 rules. Non-residents will be allowed to enter the city for the first time in more than two years from May, the government announced on Apr 22.

I live in HK, and that’s encouraging news, some light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, as far as I understand, the rules for compulsory hotel quarantine for arriving travelers have not been relaxed and, according to Government statements, they will not be in the near future. That is still a powerful deterrent. 

[numerito]

Happy to report that a few months after my previous post ☝️, the light at the end of the tunnel is now shining brighter: the HK Government has further relaxed the quarantine rules. The length of mandatory confinement in a designated hotel has been shortened to three days (from the previous seven), followed by four days of “self-isolation” at home, during which your movements are still restricted -no restaurants, for example-, but you can move around the city, visit private homes, go to the office…You also have to take several mandatory covid tests in that time. 

[PeterRS]

6 hours ago, numerito said:

The length of mandatory confinement in a designated hotel has been shortened to three days (from the previous seven), followed by four days of “self-isolation” at home

That's OK for those who have a home in Hong Kong. If not, then I assume that means yet another 4 days in some hotel. That still makes it too expensive. My pre-covid visits were 5 or 6 times a year with 2 - 3 nights per stay. There is nothing that would keep me there for 7 days, unfortunately.  

[numerito]

You are right, @PeterRS, if you don’t have a home in HK, you need to go to a non-quarantine hotel, a friend’s house, an Airbnb, or a similar location for your 4-day self-isolation period. It can still be expensive, sure, but quite more affordable than the quarantine hotel. What I don’t know is if you can leave HK before the end of that period.