SSM’s updated quarantine notice sparks social media decry

While many are yearning for shorter quarantine for arrivals, the Health Bureau (SSM) has issued a “confusingly written” notice about the end of self-monitoring for arrivals who require quarantine.

Last Thursday evening, the SSM issued a notice in Chinese on the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre social media page to announce the cancellation of “the self-monitoring between the fourth and the seventh day after quarantine and of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests (NAT) on the fifth and the seventh day after quarantine.”

The notice then said: “However, entrants are required to conduct health self-
management for four consecutive days from the day of the cessation of quarantine and take NAT at any community NAT station every day therein.”

The notice continued, “according to latest scientific data of Covid-19 patients, the centralized isolation period for positive cases logged upon arrival or during quarantine has also been adjusted, from not shorter than the 10th day after arrival to the seventh day, as well as when they are no longer infectious.”

In the post’s comment section, a user said she had managed to understand all the Chinese characters independently but not when put together. Former lawmaker Sulu Sou jokingly apologized to all his Chinese teachers for the fact that he could not understand the Chinese notice. Another user asked if the SSM had used online translation tools to compile the notice.

Apart from questions from the public, the Times also filed an enquiry with the SSM, to which its spokesperson replied before the bureau issued another statement at midnight to clarify the situation.

The SSM explained that, before the change, entrants were required to quarantine for seven days before conducting three days of health self-management and then four days of health self-monitoring.

The former equates to a yellow health code and the latter a green code, although gathering in crowds is not recommended during the four days.

After the change, which has already taken effect, arrivals will be released from quarantine after the period colloquially called “7+3”. Nevertheless, they will need to take NAT for four consecutive days from the 10th day.

The mandatory quarantine remains seven-days in length.