Hong Kong will stop requiring people infected with Covid to isolate, while retaining the long-standing mask mandate, as the government seeks to revive the economy.
(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong will stop requiring people infected with Covid to isolate, while retaining the long-standing mask mandate, as the government seeks to revive the economy.
The isolation order will be lifted from Jan. 30, the city’s leader John Lee told lawmakers on Thursday in a surprise announcement.
Hong Kong has now abandoned virtually all its Covid restrictions with the exception of the mandatory wearing of masks. Hong Kong will continue to require masks to be worn in public during winter, health chief Lo Chung-Mau said at a separate briefing.
Lee said the city has a “very sound barrier of immunity” and Covid will be managed like any other upper respiratory disease.
“Our understanding of COVID-19 and how to deal with it has been greatly enhanced,” Lee said. “As a result, the government’s management approach will have to change.”
Infected residents who are asymptomatic can go to work as normal, Edwin Tsui, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said at the briefing. The government recommends infected students not go to school until they test negative.
The city’s government is planning to end mandatory mask wearing in March or April, Ming Pao reported this week, citing unidentified people. The mask rule was imposed in July 2020 and failure to wear one in public can result in a HK$5,000 ($640) fine.
Hong Kong is planning an aggressive publicity campaign to showcase its strengths to the world as well as hold a series of events, Lee said.
Hong Kong Seeks to Prove It Can Still Be ‘Asia’s World City’
Natixis SA estimates Hong Kong’s economy lost $27 billion in potential growth due to the effects of the pandemic and the city’s strict Covid curbs.
–With assistance from Phoebe Sedgman and Jinshan Hong.
(Updates to add details on mask wearing from lead paragraph)
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