The SUN HK : HK marks quarantine-free day as 4k more Covid cases reported

By The SUN

Many migrant domestic workers were among the first to enjoy quarantine-free arrival (RTHK photo)

There were poignant scenes at the Hong Kong International Airport today, as many residents who had stayed away for two-and-a-half years due to the city’s strict quarantine requirement, rushed to return and reunite with family members.

Hong Kong’s notorious hotel quarantine was lifted starting at 6am today, and a flight from Taiwan was deliberately delayed for four hours to allow its passengers to be the first to come in under the relaxed rules.

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Also scrapped was the requirement that inbound passengers must present a negative result for a PCR test taken within 48 hours of boarding their flights. In lieu of this, arrivals were allowed to self-test using rapid antigen test kits, and upload their negative result when filling their online Health Declaration.

However, they must still undergo a PCR test on arrival, and on days 2, 4, and 6 afterwards. But unlike before when the travelers were made to stay at the airport pending the outcome of their tests, they are now allowed to leave and wait for the result at home.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Pictures taken at the airport earlier today showed the steel barriers that were set up previously to barricade in new arrivals, or herd them to the waiting hotel shuttles or designated taxis, being dismantled.

There were also happy faces all around, as new arrivals managed to breeze through immigration and the bag claim in a matter of minutes. Airport staff who kept watch on passengers amid the most trying times of the pandemic were also seen happily taking pictures to mark the end of their grueling tasks.

Airport staff were jubilant on ending some of the most trying jobs during the pandemic (Ming Pao photo)

But the local infection tally continued to rise, with a total of 4,034 additional Covid-a9 cases being reported, including 188 that were imported from abroad.

Twelve patients with Covid were reported to have died yesterday, raising the toll in the fifth wave to 9,915.

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Health officials expect the surge to ease some more as the more transmissible strain of the Omicron variant, BA.4/5, now make up 86.1 percent of the cases, suggesting a waning of the infection.

Among the cases reported today were 18 medical staff at the intensive care unit of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin. The cause of the outbreak is still being checked.

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A statement from the Hospital Authority said two staff first tested positive on Sept 23, and follow-up checks in the past three days showed an additional 16 staff were also infected.

The affected staff have taken sick leave and are undergoing isolation, while the ICU and related areas in the hospitals have been thoroughly disinfected.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

A total of 2,039 Covid patients are now receiving treatment in public hospitals. Among them, 41 are critically ill, including 15 who are in ICU, while 43 others are in serious condition.