‘HK should get tracking data on mainland visitors’

The Hong Kong government was urged on Monday to make better use of information from the mainland’s tracking tools so it can pinpoint exactly where any Covid patients from across the border had recently been.

At the weekend, the administration reversed a decision to upgrade the risk level for Guangdong, just hours after health authorities announced that quarantine-free entry to Hong Kong from the province would be suspended.

Former chief executive CY Leung had criticised the move, and in a U-turn, the government later said only the Liwan district of Guangzhou – where a confirmed Covid case was recently found – would now be classified as a “medium risk” location, and not the whole of Guangdong.

Following the apparent change in policy, infectious disease expert Leung Chi-chiu said Hong Kong should now seek more information from the mainland regarding the travel history of any infected visitors to the SAR.

“We don’t have any agreements with mainland authorities to exchange the information of people’s movement within a province, so if we come across suspicious cases, we cannot ascertain the information,” Leung said on an RTHK programme.

“When it comes to Guangdong province, it becomes problematic. It’s because many people travel between different cities within it… if we stop the [Return2HK] scheme for the province every time there’s a case, when borders reopen it will easily lead to more problems,” he added.

Another guest on the programme, Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Alice Mak, agreed with Leung’s suggestion.

“If there’s a confirmed case in the district you live in, your [health] code would change colour. We can get hold of this kind of information,” she said.

“When a person crosses the border, we can exchange information, the code data. I understand they can do it in terms of technology. The government better explain to us whether they are able to, but it shouldn’t be too difficult when it comes to the technology, because the health code system is already very mature on the mainland.”