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Looking forward to the "Red and Yellow Code" opening a new chapter for Hong Kong

2022-08-08T10:13:48.035Z


The Chief Executive, Mr Li Jiachao, the Director of the Medical and Health Bureau, Mr Lo Chongmao, and the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Mr Sun Dong, and other officials held a press conference on the morning of Monday (August 8) for the "Guidance and Coordination Group for Response to the Epidemic". public meeting


The Chief Executive, Mr Li Jiachao, the Director of the Medical and Health Bureau, Mr Lo Chongmao, and the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Mr Sun Dong, and other officials held a press conference on the morning of Monday (August 8) for the "Guidance and Coordination Group for Response to the Epidemic".

At the meeting, it was announced that Hong Kong will relax entry quarantine measures from Friday (August 12), shorten the hotel quarantine days for people arriving in Hong Kong from overseas or Taiwan via the airport to three days, and implement the "red and yellow code" measures and the introduction of "" An updated version of the Travel Safely app.


Under the latest "red-yellow code" arrangement, people diagnosed with the new coronavirus will be given a "red code" by the "Safe Travel" app, prohibiting them from leaving the quarantine location.

As for passengers arriving in Hong Kong via the airport, they will be given a "yellow code" during the four-day home medical surveillance period after hotel quarantine. They can go out but are not allowed to enter schools, residential homes for the elderly, institutions for the disabled, designated medical premises and restaurants. The premises of the "vaccine pass", however, are not limited to those who go to work, school or medical treatment.

Sun Dong pointed out that those entering the country must undergo hotel quarantine for 3 days, home medical monitoring for 4 days, and update the "An Xin Shan Xing" app to display the red and yellow codes.

(Photo by Li Zetong)

Epidemic prevention measures should not be pre-set

The Hong Kong government has chosen a shorter plan to shorten the number of quarantine days this time, which has surprised all sectors of society. Stakeholders such as the Chinese Manufacturers' Association and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce have successively expressed their welcome.

At the press conference, Li Jiachao emphasized that he did not intend to reverse the epidemic prevention measures, and also pointed out that there was no plan to extend the "yellow code" to local close contacts.

However, the evolution of the virus and the spread of the epidemic are changing rapidly, and it is impossible to guarantee that we will be seriously threatened someday. Hong Kong administrators must always give top priority to the lives and health of the citizens, and formulate plans for the possibility of the deterioration of the epidemic according to "bottom-line thinking".

In addition, when Lu Chongmao explained this measure, he explained that it was based on "testing pending" and two-day hotel quarantine to find 80% of imported cases.

Although the current decision-making is in line with the observation of relevant data, we must not forget that after the relaxation of entry quarantine restrictions in the future, the number of passengers will inevitably increase significantly, and the overall infection rate of passengers may not be enough.

Hong Kong cannot rule out the option of imitating immigration quotas from other regions if the number of arrivals and infections rises too fast and puts pressure on the local medical system.

Exemption mechanism loopholes yet to be addressed

On the other hand, since the authorities seem to have decided to rely entirely on the "Safe Travel" app to implement the "red-yellow code", people who are exempted from using "Safe Travel" under the current policy have the opportunity to have loopholes.

For example, people over the age of 65, under the age of 15 or people with disabilities are not required to use the "Safe Travel" program. If they choose to declare their personal information in paper forms in the future, they will not be restricted by the "red code". That is, continue to be able to freely enter and leave the premises.

Similar problems may also occur with the "yellow code" for home quarantine travelers. For example, the "Vaccine Pass" still accepts paper non-local vaccination records before September 1. The relevant documents are believed to be unable to directly link the relevant information of the Hong Kong authorities. " It is naturally difficult for the "Safe Travel" program to issue a "yellow code" for identification.

In addition, people under the age of 12 are currently completely exempted from the "vaccine pass" requirement, so home quarantine travelers in this age group should also be exempted from the "yellow code" restriction.

In any case, this revision of the quarantine arrangements for people arriving from overseas and Taiwan is finally a good start for external "customs clearance". After that, the authorities need to do their best to fill in the loopholes, improve the regulations, and review the relaxation or relaxation in a timely manner according to the trend of the epidemic. Tighten relevant measures.

During the decision-making process, the officials in charge should not set preconditions or favor certain groups, and at the same time, they should not neglect the "customs clearance" with the mainland, so that the public can truly see that they are a pragmatic governance team.

"Red and Yellow Code" has not been announced for a long time. When will the dawn of customs clearance be seen?

The "red and yellow code" is not enough to prevent the spread of the epidemic and must pass the customs according to the actual situation. Epidemic prevention and customs clearance with Hong Kong characteristics

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-08-08

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