The Hong Kong government announced further relaxation of measures. Starting today (14th), it will cancel the scanning of “travel with peace of mind”, but still retains the requirement to show the “vaccine pass” when entering restaurants; cancel the “yellow code” restrictions on immigrants; reduce the number of issued to residential buildings Test announcements, exemption from mandatory testing for children under 3 years old and regular testing for 11 groups of practitioners; home isolation without wearing electronic wristbands and other measures.
Lu Chongmao, director of the Medical and Health Bureau, said on a radio program this morning that the adjustment measures do not mean that the epidemic is over. He reiterated that this is only a cancellation of the scan. The program can still register for nucleic acid testing and show the vaccine pass. It is not a complete abandonment. He appeals to the public not to delete the relevant application program. The vaccine pass is an important measure to promote the public to get injections. The purpose is to encourage the injections, not to promote the vaccine pass. He also pointed out that the new crown virus still poses risks to the public, especially the elderly and young children, and urged the public to still wear masks and take protective measures. Even if the new crown has evolved into an endemic disease, it does not mean that prevention and control can be completely canceled, including the need to continue to implement vaccinations.
Asked whether the Hong Kong government’s adjustment of the epidemic prevention measures this time will cooperate with the mainland’s arrangement that no need to scan the health code. Hong Kong’s prevention and control must also consider the situation in the Mainland. Lu also said that the epidemic situation in Hong Kong is currently on a flat trend, but the number of confirmed cases is still high. If the social distance measures are further relaxed, or the chain of transmission will be expanded to increase the risk. In terms of foreign defense, nucleic acid testing for people entering the country will still be maintained. Since new variants of viruses still appear from time to time, and they mainly flow into Hong Kong through foreign imports, we cannot relax. The authorities can monitor the situation through nucleic acid testing. If the number of people entering the country increases and it is necessary to adjust relevant policies, the authorities will announce in due course.
As for the gradual reduction of compulsory inspection announcements to residential buildings, Lu Chongmao said that the general direction is to reduce the scope of mandatory inspections and the number of announcements issued every day. Considering that most of the infections of young children involve family members, children under the age of 3 are exempted. check. The authorities will decide whether to issue a mandatory inspection announcement depending on whether there is an obvious cluster outbreak in the relevant building.