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Written by: comment editing room
2020-11-12 06:45
Last update date: 2020-11-12 06:45
On Wednesday (November 11), six officials including Chen Zhaoshi, Director of the Food and Health Bureau, Qiu Tenghua, Director of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, and Xue Yongheng, Director of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, announced a new round of epidemic prevention measures.
Among them, the most notable are the "travel bubbles" with Singapore and the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" quarantine program with Singapore.
The Singapore tourism bubble will start on November 22. At the beginning, there will be an exclusive flight between Singapore and Hong Kong every day, with a maximum of 200 people each time. By December 7, the number of flights will increase to two daily.
The "Easy Return to Hong Kong" program will start on November 23 for applications from Hong Kong residents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region in the past 14 days. Initially, the Shenzhen Bay Port has a daily quota of 3,000 and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has a daily quota of 2,000.
Both plans require arrivals in Hong Kong to have a negative nucleic acid test certificate within three days before departure. For Singapore tourists, the Hong Kong government requires a nucleic acid test before departure plus an on-site visit at Hong Kong airport after arrival. Detection plays a role of double insurance.
Starting from November 23, eligible mainland Hong Kong residents will be exempted from isolation when returning to Hong Kong.
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The authorities need contingency plans
Customs clearance will be piloted in a small group of people first, which makes it easier to control risks.
The use of more stringent nucleic acid certificates instead of quarantine can also be more efficient and convenient, helping Hong Kong take the first step towards limited opening up.
However, the current plan is worthy of further discussion and improvement and vigilance.
For example, Singapore’s tourism bubble has a clear stop mechanism, that is, when one party has an average of more than five unrelated confirmed cases per day in a week, the plan will be suspended until the average number of unrelated cases on both sides is less than five per day. restore.
However, the "Easy Return to Hong Kong" program has not set a clear suspension mechanism and filing for the time being.
Although from the current published data, Guangdong and Macau are both low-risk areas, the import risk should not be high.
However, with the relaxation of the return to Hong Kong policy and the proximity of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the mobility of personnel may increase or increase certain challenges and risks. If the Hong Kong government formulates clear interventions or suspends the filing, it can avoid the future of society. Being caught in the risk of disputes or under-measures can also make Hong Kong people more confident in accepting the plan.
The customs has been closed for a long time, and the needs of the economy and people's livelihood have urged society to take this step.
However, due to the warming of the external epidemic, and the third wave of epidemics in Hong Kong has not yet been completely halted, there are still local cases with no source from time to time. The two opening-up plans can be said to be carried out in a challenging environment.
Therefore, the government must be vigilant and fully prepared to lead the society to seek new development before the vaccine becomes popular.
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