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Unlike the Mainland - where much of China's 1.4 billion people remain immunologically naive to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and vaccine uptake and effectiveness have been low - Hong Kong has seen the circulation of the virus for more than a year, and has a better record of vaccination, including the more effective imported mRNA vaccines.
For those reasons officials are fairly confident that lifting many of their long-standing social distancing requirements - starting tomorrow - will not produce the kind of surge in cases that the Mainland is currently seeing.
That said, some increase is likely, and the current (roughly) 20K cases per day will probably go up, at least in the short term. These latest changes follow initial relaxation of some restrictions on Dec 8th (see Hong Kong Eases Some COVID Restrictions In Wake Of Mainland's Policy Changes).
The announcement from the Hong Kong government website follows.
Social distancing lifted, masks remain
December 28, 2022
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(To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)
The Government today announced that the current social distancing measures, the Vaccine Pass and isolation order for close contacts of COVID-19 patients will be lifted from tomorrow.
Also from tomorrow, compulsory nucleic acid testing for inbound travellers will be replaced by rapid antigen tests that should be done for five consecutive days after arrival.
Among the social distancing measures set to be cancelled are the restrictions on group gatherings and on the number of people allowed to be seated together at one table in restaurants.
However, the mask-wearing requirement will not be relaxed.
Chief Executive John Lee said at a Command & Coordination Group press conference this afternoon that Hong Kong is heading towards normalisation.
“We have over 2.5 million (people) who have been infected (with COVID-19), so generally we have built quite a strong community immunity against the virus.
“We have very good confidence that we can control the risks because the medical service has enhanced its response system and also we have sufficient and effective medicine, and the community has good experience of three years to protect themselves.
“We are proceeding to normalisation. It has come to a time where we do not have to rely on the Vaccine Pass.”
Mr Lee also touched upon the resumption of normal travel with the Mainland.
“We will resume normal travel with the Mainland step by step, (in an) orderly (manner) with a view to full opening, full normalisation. And that is what we are doing now, in close discussion with the authorities of the Mainland.
“It is my intention to reach an agreement with our counterparts no later than a (certain) time so that we can report to the Central People's Government for endorsement, for implementation before the middle of January.”
