Border reopening delayed as HK hit by Omicron - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2022/01/border-reopening-delayed-as-hk-hit-by-omicron
Border reopening delayed as HK hit by Omicron
Hong Kong’s long-awaited resumption of quarantine-free travel, or the so-called “border reopening,” with the mainland is no closer as the special administrative region has been hit by the Omicron variant.(...) The Hong Kong government has imposed some of the world’s toughest quarantine and social-distancing rules since early last year in an effort to convince Beijing to allow an early “border reopening.” Initially, the aim was to allow about 1,000 people per day to travel across the Hong Kong-mainland border without quarantine. Since July 2020, Guangdong has allowed quarantine-free travel at its border with Macau.Originally, the Hong Kong-mainland border should have been “reopened” in late December, but it was delayed due to virus outbreaks at a Hong Kong restaurant.
On December 27, a Cathay Pacific aircrew worker, who was exempted from Hong Kong’s 21-day quarantine requirements, visited the Moon Palace restaurant at the Festival Walk mall with his father after returning from the United States. He later tested positive for the Omicron strain.The man’s father, together with a construction worker who had been sitting about 10 meters away, were later found to be infected. As of Monday, a total of six people have been found to be infected in this outbreak. The Centre for Health Protection said about 340 people had been sent to the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre, where they will stay for at least 21 days. Up to 22 staff from the Moon Palace restaurant said in a post on social media that it was unfair that they and their families had to be isolated for three weeks, while Cathay Pacific did not require its aircrew staff to stay at home after arrival.
On Saturday, Cathay Pacific said it was deeply disappointed by the fact that two of its five aircrew workers, who had recently been infected with the Omicron variant, violated the company’s isolation guidelines. It said the duo had been sacked. Michael Tien, a Roundtable lawmaker, said both Cathay Pacific and the government should be blamed for the Omicron outbreak at the Moon Palace restaurant as it was risky for newly-arrived aircrew staff to be able to walk freely on the streets. Tien said it was unlikely that the Shenzhen government would give the green light to the proposed “border reopening” with Hong Kong in the short term as it had warned about the potential risk of having incoming aircrew staff exempted from quarantine.
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