Is it fragrant? Hong Kong is expected to cancel "hotel quarantine"? Is it expected to be implemented early next month?

(Hong Kong Airport)

According to a Hong Kong media report on the 2 1st, at a special press conference on the theme of "China's Decade" held by the Central Propaganda Department on the 20th, Huang Liuquan, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the epidemic has and is profoundly affecting and changing the way of global contacts, including Hong Kong. After taking office, the new SAR government has repeatedly emphasized that it is not contradictory to connect with the world and customs clearance with the mainland, moreover, the SAR Government has also coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development in accordance with the changes in the Hong Kong epidemic and the global epidemic and the actual situation in Hong Kong, and adjusted and optimized Hong Kong's epidemic prevention and control measures in accordance with the situation. Huang Liuquan believes that these adjustments made by the SAR government are understandable and do not need to be over-interpreted.

This speech was interpreted by the Hong Kong media as the central government "green light" for Hong Kong to first and international customs clearance ". However, some senior establishment figures said that Huang Liuquan's statement shows that the central government does not oppose the Hong Kong government's relaxation of entry quarantine, but the extent to which Hong Kong should be open is an issue that Hong Kong society needs to consider.

The SAR government extended the entry quarantine arrangement in August and adopted "3 4", that is, 3 days of hotel quarantine plus 4 days of home medical observation, which did not bring additional security risks to the import of the epidemic. Recently, the outbreak in Hong Kong has fallen back, with 5687 new confirmed cases on the 21st. There are voices in the society demanding that it be further relaxed to "0 7", that is, there is no need for hotel quarantine, only 7 days of medical observation. Chief Executive Li Jiachao said before the Executive Council on the 20th that he had a positive attitude towards the decline in the number of confirmed cases. All government departments are actively studying whether there is room to adjust the quarantine arrangements for people arriving at the airport, and will make a decision and announce it as soon as possible. He emphasized that the SAR government has two major goals: one is to allow society to have the greatest space for normal and economic activities while controlling the trend of the epidemic, to give the greatest space for Hong Kong to connect with the world, and to reduce the inconvenience caused by quarantine requirements to people coming to Hong Kong; The second is to protect "one old and one young" and increase the vaccination rate for the elderly and children.

(Li Jiachao Data Map)

On the evening of the 20th, the SAR government announced that the current social distance measures would be extended for two weeks until October 5. The spokesman said that now is a critical moment to further stabilize and control the epidemic. In order to observe the specific trend of the epidemic, it is decided to maintain the current measures in the next two weeks, including allowing all restaurants and listed premises to strictly implement the requirements of "vaccine pass", "red and yellow code" and testing to continue to operate, and the requirements of "mask order" and "restriction order" will remain unchanged. In a new policy address proposal submitted to Li Jiachao, members of the DAB Legislative Council urged the government to explain the specific timetable and roadmap for relaxing the entry quarantine restrictions to "0 7", so that Hong Kong can re-connect with the world as soon as possible and resume customs clearance with the mainland as soon as possible.

A comment published in the "Bus News" stated that "lying flat" will inevitably pay a higher price of human life, and that it will pay excessive economic and social costs if it is not open at all. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is considering the "0 7" measure to speed up the pace of opening up while risks are controllable. These risks include affecting customs clearance with the Mainland, increasing the risk of imported epidemics, and 7-day medical observation measures out of control. "Sing Tao Daily" published an editorial on the 2 1st, saying that as the central government "green light" for Hong Kong's first customs clearance, the Hong Kong government should grasp the current epidemic situation and implement the "0 7" conditions, so that customs clearance can be carried out in an orderly manner., No trouble. First of all, airport testing must be properly arranged, including whether the sampling site is spacious enough to accommodate passengers, whether passengers need to wait for a negative nucleic acid test result to be released, whether there are enough samplers, etc. If they cannot cooperate, passengers will wait for the result and stay at the airport, which will affect their perception of Hong Kong. The article said, "if handled properly, it is expected to increase the confidence of the mainland and Hong Kong in resuming customs clearance, so that Hong Kong can play its role as an international contact between overseas and the mainland".