Social chatter around reports on HK govt possibly shortening hotel quarantine days

The HKSAR government is considering shortening the city’s mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals to as little as three or four days, according to SCMP. This comes as it introduced a new colour-coded health system aimed at filtering infected patients and arrivals.

The “3+4” and “4+3” plans, which refer to combinations of quarantine at hotel and at home, have been discussed by officials recently after a “5+2” plan was raised by health experts earlier this month. However government insiders said on 25 July 2022 it was still too early to decide an exact date for implementing the change in quarantine policy, suggesting to further study a variety of health data on the number of arrivals who tested positive on the third day of their hotel stay.

However, other media have reported a different combination of the quarantine days. According to a Commercial Radio report, anonymous sources said that officials are in the middle of studying reducing the mandatory seven-day quarantine in designated hotels to three or five days. It added that the government hopes to finalise the specific details of the plan next month.Meanwhile, HK01 quoted sources claiming that the government’s plan is to reduce hotel quarantine for inbound travelers to five days with two days of home quarantine, or four days of hotel quarantine and three days of home quarantine. 

Online chatter analysed

In terms of social sentiments, social monitoring company CARMA saw a total of 15% positive and 17% negative mentions related to the government’s plan to reduce quarantine requirements for inbound travellers. "Netizens generally welcome the reduction of mandatory quarantine requirements for inbound travellers. Some believe this will be a key milestone toward Hong Kong’s journey to post-pandemic normalcy," said Charles Cheung, general manager of CARMA. 

Cheung added that most negative mentions came from netizens’ concerns over the health code system which the government is also considering introducing as soon as next month, "We also saw an increased volume of mentions for keywords related to airlines across various traditional media channels in Hong Kong (e.g. newspapers, magazines, online news, etc.). Many believed the reduction of mandatory quarantine requirements will benefit the Hong Kong-based airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, and Greater Bay Airlines, which took off its first flight on 23 July."

Currently, inbound travellers and Hong Kong citizens are required to spend at least seven days in hotel quarantine. However, residents who test positive with mild or no symptoms are able to self-isolate at home. 

The policy was implemented after the government lifted a ban on flights from nine countries on 1 April but passengers still need to fulfil certain conditions to enter the city, including having a valid booking at a quarantine hotel. Former chief executive Carrie Lam said on the daily press conference that a ban on flights from nine countries, including Australia, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the UK and the US, will be scrapped from 1 April. However, several conditions still apply. Passengers need to be fully vaccinated, tested negative for the virus no more than 48 hours before boarding. They should have a valid booking at a quarantine hotel too.

Plans for real-name registration on LeaveHomeSafe app

On the other hand, Hong Kong is set to implement real-name registration for the contact-tracing LeaveHomeSafe app and health codes to differentiate those infected of Covid-19 or undergoing quarantine. The move has sparked conversations online on whether the new implementation would breach personal privacy.

Speaking at the routine COVID-19 briefing earlier, the new health chief Lo Chung Mau revealed that the real-name registration and a health code system will be introduced to the LeaveHomeSafe app “as soon as possible,” but did not propose a specific timeframe. The app will also be updated to introduce a health code system similar to what is used in mainland China. 

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