Coronavirus: Hong Kong could ease flight bans, class suspensions next week, city leader says, as 21,650 cases reported

The measures up for review also include lengthy quarantine periods for incoming travellers, with an announcement also due on a controversial plan for universal Covid-19 testing

Many of the measures were supposed to last until April 20, but Lam said she had ‘a very strong feeling that people’s tolerance is fading’

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to a team of mainland Chinese medical workers now in the city to help out with anti-pandemic efforts. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 12:25pm, 17 Mar 2022Updated: 1:17am, 18 Mar 2022

Hong Kong may ease some of its tough pandemic restrictions that include flight bans, class suspensions and lengthy quarantine for travellers a month earlier than planned, with the city’s leader conceding that public tolerance is reaching its limit.

Many of the measures up for review were scheduled to remain in place until April 20, but changes could be revealed as early as Sunday. The government is also expected to announce whether a controversial mass testing scheme for Covid-19 will proceed, and if so, how it will be carried out.

Speaking at her daily press conference on Thursday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said it was time for the government to undertake a “midterm review” of its current measures, after political and medical heavyweights urged authorities to offer a road map for the next stage of the coronavirus epidemic.

“I’m working [on] it day and night to find the optimal solution for Hong Kong,” Lam said, referring to a plan for the city to reopen to the outside world.