Hong Kong mulls on reopening cross-border travel when Covid-19 cases subside

The Hong Kong SAR is considering to reopen its borders to Macau and mainland China if the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases in its region decreases to low double-digit or single digit numbers.
As cited in a report issued by the Hong Kong Economic Times, the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Frank Chen, disclosed that if the fourth wave of the pandemic outbreak eases, a possible customs clearance arrangement between its neighboring regions could materialize.
According to Chen, the HKSAR has been in dialogues with Macau and mainland authorities on such customs clearance arrangements.
The availability of Covid-19 jabs will also play significant part in the facilitation of the travel bubble.
Its Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced that the Fosun Pharma-BioNTech vaccine they have procured is slated to arrive by the end of this month and the inoculation will begin immediately.
Hong Kong is still locking down several residential buildings blocks to deter the spread of the virus. Residents in these residential buildings are required to be tested for Covid-19 or be fined HKD5,000.
On Tuesday, 25 new cases were reported, taking the total tally to 10,511.
In late September, the Hong Kong government was getting ready to reopen cross-border travel between the mainland and Macau – a move that has long been postponed due to the third wave of coronavirus infections in the city.
However, the plan came to a standstill due to the fourth wave of the virus.
Since then, the discussion of a travel bubble between Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland has been halted as the HKSAR has further extended its restrictions in response to detecting a new cluster of Covid-19 cases.
The travel bubble has long been planned but was initially stalled over “technical issues.”