HK tightens quarantine requirements for UK returnees

Health officials on Thursday said the quarantine requirements for people returning from the UK will be tightened from Monday, after a surge in Covid-19 cases involving a more infectious strain of the virus there.

Currently, those who’re arriving from the UK and are fully vaccinated only need to be in hotel quarantine for 14 days.

However, the government said in view of the widespread transmission of the Delta variant there, the country will once again be put into the “very high risk” category.

From June 28, all travelers from the UK – regardless of their vaccination status – will need to show a negative test result obtained within 72 hours before their flight, as well as confirmation of a reservation at a designated hotel, where they will undergo 21 days of quarantine.

Four tests will be conducted during the period, with another compulsory test on the 26th day of their arrival in Hong Kong.

Separately, health officials said starting from Saturday, June 26, people returning from Taiwan, or countries in the “extremely high-risk,” “very high-risk,” and “high risk” categories must conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based nucleic acid test.

They said tests conducted using other platforms won’t be admitted in order to ward off imported cases.