The Government today announced that starting September 3, people arriving in Hong Kong from the Mainland or Macau via the airport will no longer be required to undergo the “test-and-hold” procedure.

The move was made in a bid to align the testing arrangements for people arriving via the airport and land boundary control points, the Government pointed out.

Also from September 3, the existing requirement of undergoing compulsory nucleic acid tests on days four and six after arrival in Hong Kong will be revised to taking a compulsory nucleic acid test on day two. This new rule will tally with the rules imposed on people arriving from overseas places or Taiwan, which require them to get a nucleic acid test in designated quarantine hotels on day two.

This day-two test is applicable to people subject to compulsory quarantine at home, as well as those arriving in Hong Kong under the Return2hk or Come2hk schemes, the Government noted.

Explaining the revision made, the Government said inbound travellers from the Mainland and Macau pose very low infection risks to Hong Kong as control and management measures are implemented in at-risk areas there. It also emphasised the fact that no imported cases from the Mainland or Macau have been detected in recent months.

Furthermore, considering the shorter incubation period of the Omicron virus variants, the city’s nucleic acid testing resources can be utilised in a more targeted and efficient manner, the Government added.

As a transitional arrangement, relevant people who have already arrived in Hong Kong and taken one compulsory nucleic acid test before September 3 need not take a second one as required under the original compulsory testing rules.

The Government stated that it will also further refine the arrival processes at the airport as a result of its decision to lift the “test-and-hold” arrangement.