Outgoing Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam ruled out the possibility of opening the border with mainland in the foreseeable future. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said the city will not be able to reopen its border in the short term due to the country’s different pandemic response compared to the rest of the world.
Reopening the border with the mainland is a major challenge, she told a Legislative Council meeting on Thursday (June 9). I can tell you that is not possible in the short term based on our discussions from September to December last year.
Authorities told Hong Kong officials last year they needed to maintain no local infections for a period of time to reopen the border. It seems impossible anytime soon as Hong Kong tolerates hundreds of local daily Covid-19 infections a day without tightening social distancing measures, showing a clear divergence from the mainland.
Ms Lam said health experts told her this week they were not concerned about the increase in cases, as most are mild infections and the city’s vaccination rate is rising.
Although it cannot open the border with the mainland, the city still imposes a mandatory seven-day hotel quarantine for arrivals from much of the world.