After COVID-19 cases surged on the mainland and various restrictions began to be gradually lifted, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee held a press conference on December 13 and announced that, starting tomorrow (December 14), Hong Kong’s COVID prevention measures will be adjusted as follows:

  • People entering Hong Kong will no longer be issued a yellow code, meaning they can enter any venue, including restaurants and bars
  • To enter high-risk venues, including restaurants, it is no longer necessary to scan the LeaveHomeSafe app QR code, but travelers still need to scan the Vaccine Pass (which will be issued on arrival for those vaccinated outside Hong Kong)

Transiting via Hong Kong

For travelers transiting via Hong Kong to enter mainland China, because the 3-day yellow code restriction is no longer in place, in theory they can head directly to mainland China as long as they have a nucleic acid test result from within 48 hours. The statement published by Air China does not require that the nucleic acid test be taken in Hong Kong, but it does recommend Prenetics at Hong Kong International Airport as a testing provider. It is currently unclear whether travelers can use a foreign test report to board and connect directly back to mainland China, but we believe that is very likely.

Bottom line

After Hong Kong revised its COVID policies, it still has not eliminated arrival testing, post-arrival nucleic acid testing, or the requirement for 5 days of rapid antigen tests after entry. But in most other respects, it is now basically 0+0, with quarantine measures fully removed. Presumably, the Hong Kong government believes reopening with the mainland is on the horizon and that there is no longer a need for relatively strict entry quarantine rules. On the other hand, airfare for direct flights back to mainland China has also started to drop sharply, so demand for transiting via Hong Kong is itself declining. For people eager to return to mainland China, this is also good news.