Coronavirus: Hong Kong may need to adopt Macau’s suspension mechanism for quarantine-free travel with mainland China, government adviser says

Professor David Hui suggests city look into Macau’s system with mainland, where quarantine-free travel is stopped if one infection is found in community

Others say city can adopt relaxed system given higher flow of international visitors and suspend travel only where there are signs of community transmission

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A traveller at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Discussions on how to resume quarantine-free travel have increased in recent weeks. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:24pm, 11 Oct 2021Updated: 12:22am, 12 Oct 2021

Hong Kong may need to follow in Macau’s footsteps and set up a suspension mechanism for quarantine-free travel with mainland China when the border fully reopens, a government pandemic adviser has said, meaning just one local Covid-19 case could trigger the measure.

But some other health experts said Hong Kong could adopt a more relaxed rule given its higher flow of international travellers, and suspend quarantine-free arrangements only when there were signs of community transmission.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday said Hong Kong and the mainland authorities would need to agree during talks on fully reopening the border on specific circumstances that would trigger a suspension.

Discussions on how to resume quarantine-free travel have increased in recent weeks, with officials and experts from the mainland and Hong Kong meeting in Shenzhen late last month.