The Government announced today that from February 5, it will adjust the virus testing and compulsory quarantine arrangements for people arriving in Hong Kong from the Mainland, Macau and Taiwan.

For inbound travellers arriving on or after January 18 and have only stayed in the Mainland or Macau on the day of arrival in Hong Kong or during the 14 days before that day, regardless of whether they come via land boundary control points or the airport, the compulsory testing arrangement will be adjusted to three tests to be conducted on the third, fifth and 12th days of their arrival. Among these, the test on the 12th day must be done in a community testing centre (CTC). The day of arrival in Hong Kong is counted as the first day.

This arrangement is applicable to people who arrive in the city under the Return2hk Scheme and the Come2hk Scheme, people who have been fully vaccinated and are subject to compulsory quarantine for seven days, and people who are not yet vaccinated and are subject to compulsory quarantine for 14 days, the Government said.

As a transitional arrangement, if a traveller arriving between January 18 and 25 has undergone compulsory testing in a CTC on the 12th or 16th day of arrival, this person would be deemed to have fulfilled the testing requirements.

Also from February 5, Hong Kong residents who have stayed in Taiwan in the past 14 days will be subject to compulsory quarantine in a designated quarantine hotel (DQH) for 14 days, during which six virus tests will be done, followed by self-monitoring for seven days. Furthermore, they are required to undergo compulsory testing on the 16th and 19th days of arrival, with the 19th-day test taken in a CTC.

For non-Hong Kong residents travelling from Taiwan, only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to board a flight to Hong Kong. They will be subject to the same quarantine and testing arrangements as Hong Kong residents.

Regarding those who arrived in Hong Kong from Taiwan between January 16 and February 4, and are subsequently required to undergo the 15th to 21st days of quarantine in DQHs on or after February 5 in accordance with the original quarantine orders, the Department of Health will arrange for them to undergo virus testing before the completion of quarantine. If they obtain a negative test result and have completed at least 14 days of quarantine, they will be arranged to leave the DQHs. After that, these travellers will need to self-monitor from the 15th to 21st days of arrival, and get tested on the 16th and 19th days.

The adjusted quarantine and testing arrangements are in line with those applicable to inbound travellers from overseas announced earlier, the Government noted.