The latest from HKFP on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Hong Kong gov’t urged to spend HK$100m to revive ailing tourism sector
Representatives of Hong Kong’s ailing tourism industry have urged the government to provide HK$100 million to revive the sector after almost three years of crippling Covid-19 restrictions on visitors. Top members of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and four lawmakers from the city’s largest pro-Beijing party the DAB discussed the difficulties faced by…
Covid-19: Lawmaker urges scrapping of PCR tests for mainland travel as one centre sees queues till 3 a.m.
A Hong Kong lawmaker has urged authorities to cancel the need for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to enter the mainland as one centre in Sham Shui Po saw would-be travellers queuing until 3 a.m. on Thursday. Under the current policy, all travellers over the age of three must obtain a negative PCR test result…
HKFP COVID-19 GUIDES
COVID-19 FEATURES
In Pictures: A trip back in time as Hongkongers board a sampan to hear the stories of the city’s sea dwellers
“Once upon a time, Hong Kong was a small fishing village.” Most Hongkongers could make this statement about their city’s origins, but very few could elaborate on what life was really like for the sea dwellers, or Tanka people, who were among the first inhabitants. On a gloomy winter day, HKFP was taken on a…
Explainer: Hong Kong’s Covid-19 entry requirements and restrictions
Hong Kong has relaxed most of its Covid-19 regulations, including dropping the vaccination requirement to enter restaurants and other venues, and mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for international arrivals. But the mask mandate remains in place as the city seeks to resume quarantine-free travel with China next month, and unvaccinated non-residents are still denied…
‘Permanent damage’: How relaxations to Hong Kong’s Covid-19 rules have impacted travel
Hong Kong has enforced some of the world’s strictest Covid-19 travel restrictions since the pandemic broke out close to three years ago. While most other destinations have long abandoned curbs, it was less than three months ago that the city abandoned mandatory hotel quarantine for all incoming travellers. At one point the period of enforced…
Hongkongers adapt to life without Covid tracing app, but some question the need for Vaccine Pass scheme
Hongkongers on Wednesday got used to life without the government’s LeaveHomeSafe Covid-19 tracing app, with many welcoming the move. Chief Executive John Lee announced on Tuesday that mandatory use of the app to enter restaurants and other premises would be scrapped from Wednesday. However, the Vaccine Pass scheme, which requires proof of vaccination to be…
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
Politics vs. science: Why Hong Kong has to tell good stories of Covid
After three years of Covid restrictions, the much-anticipated reopening has come. But it seems to have come out of the blue. Without groundwork laid and roadmaps set out, an overnight policy change looks rash. When science changed with the emergence of Omicron, a less deadly but more contagious variant, the world adapted, but Hong Kong…
China’s ‘blank placard’ Covid protests: What Hong Kong officials could learn from their Beijing counterparts
Thousands of people went onto the streets across China last month to protest their government’s years-long zero-Covid policy. Some of those protests morphed into calls for much more: “We want reform, not Cultural Revolution. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want votes, not a ruler. We want dignity, not lies. We are citizens, not slaves.”…
China’s 20th Party Congress: As leaders celebrate achievements, free societies agonise as autocrats cheer
This is a month of official celebration in China. It started on October 1, National Day, which commemorated 73 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In the coming days, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will convene its 20th Party Congress, during which the top brass will celebrate the party’s contributions…
Hong Kong’s new gov’t has Beijing’s trust, but can more relaxed Covid policies win over residents?
When the central authorities chose former police officer and security chief John Lee to be Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive, they signalled the overriding importance of security in Hong Kong. Lee has not disappointed them. As secretary for security under Carrie Lam’s leadership, he was part of a government that relentlessly pursued those it perceived…
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