Hong Kong shortens COVID-19 quarantine for vaccinated residents
08 May, 2021
Hong Kong authorities said on Friday (May 7) residents who have been fully vaccinated can spend a shorter amount of time in quarantine if they have been exposed to a COVID-19 patient, after thousands of individuals were sent to tiny quarantine quarters for 21 days.
The new rule comes as the city's government is trying to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Only about 14 % of Hong Kong's 7.5 million persons experienced at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since a campaign was launched in February.
Ronald Lam, controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the city's Department of Health, said fully vaccinated residents considered a close contact of a COVID-10 patient can spend a week in government quarantine and seven days of self-monitoring at home.
But people subjected to a virus variant would need to spend 14 days in quarantine and seven days of self-monitoring, he said.
The city has some of the strictest quarantine measures globally with close contacts of coronavirus patients ordered to visit government quarantine for 21 days.
A person is considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second of two vaccinations.
The Chinese special administrative region has kept COVID-19 transmission largely in order, recording more than 11,700 coronavirus cases and 210 deaths, much lower than a great many other developed cities.
Residents have already been hesitant to take the vaccine due to worries over effects and lack of confidence in the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine. Hong Kong offers both Sinovac and Germany's Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and residents can choose.
Many residents also have questioned why vaccinated persons are at the mercy of the same quarantine measures as persons who are not.
The Department of Health recently told all residents of several apartment complexes to spend 21 days in quarantine after COVID-19 cases were detected.
In response, thousands of individuals signed an online petition asking the federal government to allow home quarantine for those who have been vaccinated.
Separately, from May 12, vaccinated residents time for the location after travelling could see their hotel quarantine shortened according to where they are arriving from.
People via Australia, New Zealand and Singapore will need to quarantine in a hotel for a week, down from 14. People via "medium and high risk areas", will need to quarantine for two weeks rather than 21.
Hong Kong residents located in mainland China can return to the town under a quota system without having to spend amount of time in quarantine.
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