Passengers line up to be taken to hotel quarantine at the Hong Kong International Airport on April 1, 2022, after the city lifted a flight ban on nine countries amid the pandemic. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

Medical experts and industry leaders expressed support for the possible scrapping of compulsory COVID-19 hotel quarantine for arrivals, which the city’s health chief said the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is “actively considering” and likely to implement before November.

They said such a change is in line with the abating pandemic situation and can further increase the city’s international connectivity and suitability to host high-level events.

Currently, Hong Kong is implementing a “3+4” policy, which requires arrivals from overseas places or Taiwan to spend three days in a quarantine hotel and four days under medical surveillance at home.

If the new plan is adopted, hotel quarantine will be canceled and the home observation period will be extended to seven days, which is the so-called “0+7” policy.

Health secretary Lo Chung-mau said on a Commercial Radio program on Saturday that the government holds a positive attitude toward reducing hotel quarantine, adding that it is collecting data to support the new policy

Health secretary Lo Chung-mau said on a Commercial Radio program on Saturday that the government holds a positive attitude toward reducing hotel quarantine, adding that it is collecting data to support the new policy.

The city’s daily COVID-19 infections have declined from over 10,000 cases in early September to 6,260 new cases on Monday.

David Hui Shu-cheong, a member of the government’s COVID-19 Expert Advisory Panel, said on Sunday that he supports the government to further relax entry requirements, if COVID cases continue to fall in the next one or two weeks and the city’s healthcare system can cope.

He added that currently imported cases account for less than 2 percent of the total infections and that the relaxation will not bring much risk.

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The business sector recently doubled down on its calls for the city to open up. Executive Councilor and business sector lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung called on the government to drop entry quarantine measures for arrivals as soon as possible, noting it will enable the city to hold high-end international events, such as the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in November.

Because of the protracted pandemic and related quarantine curbs, Hong Kong has canceled many large-scale sports events and lost the right to hold several international sports events, such as the 2023 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, which will now take place in Pattaya, Thailand.

Chairman of Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association Chung Chilok said the lack of a specific road map or timetable for relaxing anti-pandemic curbs has made it difficult for the city to bid for international events. For the athletes’ convenience, it’s understandable that the organizers chose to host the event in another place, he added.

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Noting that many overseas cities are bidding for the right to host major international sports events, lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wingshun said he hopes that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s Policy Address in October will introduce new initiatives to enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness in being able to hold grand events.