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According to the South China Morning Post, China may further ease border restrictions with Hong Kong, including shortening the mandatory hotel quarantine for travelers from Hong Kong.
The newspaper quoted veteran politician Tan Yaozong as saying that the current seven-day hotel quarantine period for Hong Kong travelers could be shortened to four days by the end of the year, as most new coronavirus variants have an incubation period of about three days. Tan is the city’s only NPC Standing Committee representative.
According to Sing Tao Daily, Tan also believes that the mainland may allow more Hong Kong tourists to cross the border every day. The current system for entering Shenzhen by land is a daily draw for about 2,000 quarantine hotel places. The competition is fierce and some people take days to get a seat.
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Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, has pledged to restore Hong Kong’s international links and its links with the mainland, a difficult combination given Beijing’s strict Covid Zero rules and the ubiquity of the virus elsewhere. While Li has lifted hotel quarantines for travelers arriving through the airport, discussions on reopening with China, the city’s main source of retail and tourists, have stalled.
Hong Kong authorities are currently negotiating with mainland officials over a so-called “reverse quarantine” system, which provides such services directly to local travelers before they enter China. This may help alleviate Shenzhen’s hotel supply shortage.
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Discussions have stalled due to multiple technical issues, including difficulty hiring employees willing to participate in a “closed-loop” system, who must work long hours without being able to go home, Tan said. Other challenges include figuring out who is responsible if an outbreak occurs on the mainland, according to the Sing Tao Island report.
China reported 827 new local Covid cases on Saturday, while Hong Kong still has more than 5,000 cases a day.
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