U.K. Set to Be Added to Hong Kong’s Highest-Risk List, SCMP Says

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong residents returning from the U.K. will be required to spend their first week at a government quarantine center as the city tightens entry rules amid mounting concerns over the omicron variant, according to a report from the South China Morning Post.

The U.K. will be moved to a category that calls for the strictest measures in which travelers must spend one week at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre, followed by 14 days in a designated hotel, according to the SMCP, which cited an unidentified source. An announcement is expected later Monday, the paper reported.

The U.K. joins the U.S., along with some African countries, in facing the measures. The U.S. was added to the category last Friday, and the new rules take effect today for travelers from the country.

The moves underscore a knee-jerk approach toward dealing with the virus that’s coming under growing criticism and out of sync with global trends. They signal the eagerness of the local government to align itself with China’s strict Covid-zero policies in hopes of reopening the mainland border, the city’s main economic lifeline.

Hong Kong’s 21-day quarantine policy is even more aggressive than what’s practiced in some areas in China; researchers associated with the Guangdong Provincial Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention said in a study on Covid data prior to omicron that isolation mandates longer than 14 days are likely “an over-reaction” to the threat.

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