The government revokes the “closed-loop management” arrangement for crew members stationed in Hong Kong when they are on duty overseas, that is, they are allowed to leave designated hotels. Several airlines immediately notified the relevant staff yesterday. Before returning to Hong Kong from duty and entering the community, they must obtain a negative nucleic acid test result at the airport. After that, they can freely enter and leave the listed premises. The “vaccine pass” will not be converted to a “yellow code”, but they must undergo nucleic acid testing for 4 consecutive days. , and partially implement the “0+0” entry measures in disguised form. The social distancing measures will be relaxed tomorrow (6th), and some respiratory specialists questioned that the “restriction of gatherings” is now “in name only”, and urged to cancel it together with the “safe travel” requirement in some places.
Cathay Pacific sent an internal email to employees late the night before yesterday, notifying the relaxation of the measures, which took effect in the early hours of yesterday. When the crew members stationed in Hong Kong are on flights to overseas regions or Taiwan, they do not need to stay in the hotel for the whole time and can go out freely at the outstation as usual, but they must wear masks at all times, and are prohibited from participating in large gatherings or going to crowded places, such as bars and pubs, etc. . Before they return to Hong Kong from duty and enter the community, if it is not a same-day round-trip flight, they must first obtain a negative nucleic acid test result at the airport, and the arrangement is different from the “test release” for arriving passengers in relevant areas.
After entering the community, the “vaccine pass” of the crew members stationed in Hong Kong will maintain the “blue code”, and they can enter the listed premises such as restaurants and bars, and implement the “0+0” entry measures in disguise. However, they have to undergo nucleic acid testing and rapid testing on the first to third days following arriving in Hong Kong, and nucleic acid testing on the fourth day. The requirements are stricter than those of “0+3” arrivals. Cathay Pacific’s internal email also mentioned that crew members no longer need to submit records of their activities following returning to Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific: Flexibility to increase flights
The Hong Kong government announced the new arrangement yesterday followingnoon, which it believes can effectively help airlines increase their capacity. It also pointed out that airlines have been required to develop internal mechanisms to punish flight crews who violate the conditions of staying in outstations, and their qualifications for specific quarantine arrangements will also be cancelled by the government. Cathay Pacific responded that it welcomes the relaxation, which will help to flexibly increase flights, strengthen the flight network connections to and from Hong Kong as a hub, and will continue to resume more flights as soon as practicable. Hong Kong Airlines also welcomed the arrangement in its reply, and believed it would help improve the efficiency of staffing arrangements. HK Express (Hong Kong Express Airlines) said that it will closely monitor the market conditions to adjust the number of flights.
Li Yongfu, chairman of the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Union, said that nucleic acid tests usually take two to three hours to get results. Waiting on the spot will not only affect the rest of the crew, and the process will not be counted as working hours. I hope that the arrangement can be in line with passengers. , that is, it can be released following sampling. He continued that the problem had been reported to the authorities earlier, but he believed the relaxation would still help the aviation industry to recruit people.
Leung Tsz-chao advocates the cancellation of the passive inspection of “Travel with Peace of Mind”
Social distancing measures in Hong Kong will also be relaxed from tomorrow, including increasing the maximum number of people per restaurant to 12 and banquets up to 240 people. At present, the government stipulates that citizens must travel with peace of mind when entering 24 types of premises. However, in 4 types of passively inspected premises such as shopping malls and supermarkets, fewer citizens will scan them. Liang Zichao (circle chart), a specialist in respiratory system, believes that “Travel With Peace of Mind” can no longer play its tracking function. In addition, when entering large places such as shopping malls, it is impossible to determine whether you have been in contact with confirmed patients, urging the government to cancel the passive inspection places. “Travel with peace of mind” requirement. As for restaurants and other establishments actively inspected, he pointed out that many of them have bundled “safe travel” with “vaccine passports”, and it is expected that it is difficult to cancel at this stage.
The “gathering restriction order” remains at a maximum of 4 people despite the multiple relaxation of social distancing measures. Liang Zichao pointed out that the weekend and business districts were crowded from time to time, questioning how to effectively implement the measures. Restrictions should be lifted if it is to return to normal, but the mask order can be reviewed at a later stage. He also pointed out that inbound travelers diagnosed on the first 3 days of arrival in Hong Kong have a low risk of local epidemics. He suggested that the government can implement the “0+0” entry arrangement as soon as possible, but the nucleic acid test at the airport should be retained. For quick testing, consider canceling regular nucleic acid testing.
In addition, the circuit breaker mechanism of the cruise “high seas cruise” will also be cancelled tomorrow. Ban Zhirong, managing director of the US Cruise Terminal, pointed out that cruise companies have generally planned flights within three years, and it is expected that it will take several years before they return to the Hong Kong market. He said that restrictions on cruise ships have been lifted in many places around the world, attracting cruise ships to relocate their operations, so it is expected that only one or two cruise ships will return to Hong Kong following the relaxation of measures.
Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 accounted for more than 90%
In terms of the epidemic, 3,286 new cases of new coronary pneumonia were confirmed in Hong Kong yesterday, and 170 of the 272 imported cases were confirmed at the airport. The Department of Health’s analysis found that the proportion of cases with variant virus strains Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 has exceeded 90%. The Hospital Authority announced that 8 more people had died, bringing the total number of deaths in the fifth wave of the epidemic to 9,971.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/local/gradually returning to normal-removing crew members overseas closed-loop-arriving in disguised form-0-0-Liang Zichao refers to the gathering limit order-death in name-/341420?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral
