MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2021) The mandatory quarantine of 14 days for fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies and are returning back home from abroad could be halved, the South China Morning Post reported.
Sources familiar with the situation told the newspaper that the decision will be announced on Monday afternoon at a press conference led by the Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
The new measures will cover Hong Kong residents and foreign citizens holding a work visa who have returned from high, medium or low risk COVID-19 countries (including Russia, the United States, Canada and Japan) and have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days. In addition, residents must test positive for having COVID-19 antibodies and take a PCR test on arrival.
Currently, Hong Kong has a five-tier system according to which quarantine measures are determined for people coming from a particular country. The extremely high risk group (A1 and A2) includes countries like Brazil, India and Indonesia and see passengers being forbidden from returning to Hong Kong or having to quarantine for 21 days upon arrival.
People arriving from group D (the lowest risk group) can already take advantage of the seven day quarantine rule.
On June 17, Hong Kong's government added Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to the list of COVID-19 vaccines recognized in the special autonomous region, which now allows Russian citizens who have received both doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to arrive to Hong Kong and quarantine for seven days instead of 14.
Hong Kong has managed to keep infection rates low with only 65 people infected as of June 20. Over 25% of the population have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and around 17% both. Hong Kong aims to reach heard immunity after vaccinating 70% of the population.
