Reporter: Zhang Xiaoxi
On September 7, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam announced important news at a press conference. Starting from September 15th, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will officially launch the "Easy to Hong Kong" program to allow non-Hong Kong residents from the Mainland and Macau to be exempted. Compulsory quarantine to come to Hong Kong.
This means that after more than 500 consecutive days of "closing customs", mainland residents can finally travel to Hong Kong without quarantine.
Passengers enter Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Bay Port.
(Information photo) Photo by Li Zhihua
Regarding "Easy to Hong Kong" In fact, as early as April 2021, Carrie Lam announced that the SAR government planned to launch the "Easy to Hong Kong" program in mid-May this year.
However, in view of the rebound of the epidemic in Hong Kong and the Mainland, the plan failed to start, and it was not announced again until September 7.
At the press conference that day, Carrie Lam said that the local cases of new coronary pneumonia in Hong Kong have been "cleared" for 21 consecutive days, and the SAR government will continue to adopt a strict "foreign import" strategy to create conditions for early customs clearance with the mainland.
"In fact, I believe that it is the common wish of the general public and the business community to be exempted from quarantine and exchanges with the Mainland as soon as possible," she pointed out.
According to the "Easy to Hong Kong" plan, starting from September 15th, the Shenzhen Bay Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port will each have a daily quota of 1,000 people, that is, a total of 2,000 non-Hong Kong residents can be exempted from quarantine through the program. , Arrived in Hong Kong from the Mainland and Macau.
However, the person concerned must still hold a negative certificate of the new coronavirus nucleic acid test when entering Hong Kong, and must undergo regular virus testing upon arrival in Hong Kong.
Passengers enter Hong Kong.
(Information Photo) Photo by Zhang Wei
Under the current regulations, it is not that mainlanders cannot come to Hong Kong, but for mainlanders without Hong Kong status, the condition of "requiring an endorsement for a stay of more than 14 days" is the key to whether they can enter Hong Kong. The regular endorsements that meet this condition currently only endorsed by visiting relatives.
Generally speaking, travel endorsements to Hong Kong only have a 7-day period of stay, and the immigration department of the Mainland has been closed for a long time. Therefore, it can be assumed that all Mainlanders who travel for the purpose of the "Easy to Hong Kong" before the launch of "Easy to Hong Kong", let alone isolation , There may not even be a way to enter Hong Kong.
Therefore, the introduction of "Easy to Hong Kong" can be said to reduce the trouble caused by the period of stay.
Passengers enter Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Bay Port.
(Information photo) Photo by Li Zhihua
Regarding the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" On the same day, Carrie Lam also announced the arrangements for the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" plan at a press conference.
Under the "Easy Return to Hong Kong", Hong Kong residents in the Mainland and Macau can return to Hong Kong without quarantine. This arrangement will be fully restored from 0:00 on September 8.
"Easy Return to Hong Kong" is a plan launched by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on November 23, 2020. The scope of application is adjusted according to the epidemic situation.
In early August of this year, in response to the outbreak of the epidemic in the Mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government suspended the arrangement for Hong Kong residents to return to Hong Kong through the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" quarantine-free arrangement from other regions except Guangdong and Macau.
The epidemic situation in the Mainland has now stabilized. In order to facilitate the return of Hong Kong residents to Hong Kong, the SAR government will once again fully restore the relevant arrangements.
However, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also pointed out that although the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" program will be applied to the entire mainland and Macau from September 8, some regions in the mainland that are regarded as medium and high-risk are still temporarily excluded.
Those who return to Hong Kong through the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" program are also required to hold a negative certificate of the new coronavirus nucleic acid test and undergo regular virus testing.
The SAR government will continue to adjust the scope of application of the plan in accordance with the update of the epidemic situation in the Mainland.
She also said that since the launch of "Easy Return to Hong Kong" in November 2020, more than 200,000 people have returned to Hong Kong through the program, and there has not been a confirmed case of new coronary pneumonia. Therefore, I believe that the program can be carried out with confidence.
Passengers enter Hong Kong.
(Information Photo) Photo by Zhang Wei
It is hoped that the launch of the "Easy to Hong Kong" for two-way isolation-free customs clearance with the Mainland will help the recovery of Hong Kong's tourism industry?
In response to this, Yao Sirong, a member of the tourism industry of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that although people from the Mainland can be exempted from isolation, there are still isolation requirements for returning from Hong Kong to the Mainland. So for now, "coming to Hong Kong" The launch of "Easy" will not have much impact on Hong Kong's tourism industry, but it can be said to be a good start.
Yao Sirong believes that the launch of the "Easy to Hong Kong" program will provide assistance to business people or some people who come to Hong Kong to visit relatives or have urgent matters to deal with.
And if those who come to Hong Kong through the "Easy-to-Hong Kong" return to the Mainland, there is no case of COVID-19 infection, I believe it will also help Hong Kong and the Mainland to resume two-way isolation-free customs clearance.
In addition, regarding the recent occurrence of imported cases of the Mu variant virus in Hong Kong, Xu Shuchang, an expert consultant of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s Anti-epidemic Steering Committee and Chair Professor of the Department of Respiratory System of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that the situation is worthy of attention, but it has not reached the level of concern. I believe the imported cases are right. The local community in Hong Kong has no major influence.