Hong Kong removes most covid-19 mandates, including testing for arriving travelers

Why some countries will restrict the arrival of travelers from China?

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(CNN) --

Hong Kong will remove the requirement that incoming travelers take mandatory Covid-19 PCR tests upon arrival, effective Thursday, the city's chief executive John Lee announced Wednesday.

The government is also removing your vaccination pass, the proof of vaccination required to enter most places, starting Thursday, Lee said.

Lee said there will no longer be a limit on public gatherings, however the mask mandate will still be required in all public places, including outdoors.

Travelers arriving in the city are also required to take rapid antigen tests for five days upon arrival.

“Generally speaking, we have a relatively high vaccination rate, coupled with the fact that we have 2.5 million people infected, our society as a whole has built a high-level and extensive barrier of immunity,” Lee said.

• Families rejoice after years of separation after China's announcement to end mandatory quarantine for travelers from abroad

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Lee said the city's health personnel have accumulated "enough experience to react to the epidemic," adding that the city's Hospital Authority has increased its capacity and resources to handle such situations.

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The latest easing of restrictions in Hong Kong closely follows that in China, after Beijing announced Monday that it will lift quarantine for incoming international travelers from January 8, marking a major step toward reopening after of keeping the country closed to foreigners for almost three years.

In early December, Hong Kong stopped contact tracing.

infected people and eased some restrictions on arrivals.

In September, the city ended a mandatory hotel quarantine for foreign travelers, after more than two and a half years of lockdown that threatened its status as an international business hub and plunged the economy into recession.

• China to remove quarantine for incoming travelers

Since mid-December Hong Kong no longer requires diners to use a covid-19 contact tracing app to enter restaurants, but it does keep your vaccine pass for certain venues.

(Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg/Getty)

Taiwan requests PCR tests from travelers coming from China

And as China relaxes restrictions on international travelers, several countries have implemented measures to control the spread of covid-19 from travelers from China.

This Wednesday, India and Japan announced that they will request negative tests for travelers from that country.

Now, Taiwan has announced that it will require all travelers arriving from mainland China to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival, Wang Pi-sheng, head of the island's Central Epidemic Command Center, said Wednesday.

The new policy will start on January 1, 2023 and will last for one month, he said.

If the test comes back positive, the traveler must undergo five days of home quarantine, which is in line with the current policy for anyone who tests positive for covid-19 in Taiwan.

Their samples will also be sent to a lab for genome sequencing, he added.

The island no longer requires travelers arriving from abroad to self-quarantine, but they have to practice seven days of "health self-management" and are required to take regular rapid tests.

Taiwan currently does not allow Chinese passport holders to visit for tourism purposes, a policy it has implemented since the pandemic began.

Chinese citizens can apply for permission to land in Taiwan for other purposes, such as for business reasons or to visit relatives on the island.

Covid-19