This city no longer issues $1,000 penalties for failing to wear a mask after 959 days.
Starting on Wednesday, Hong Kong, one of the few countries in the world to still need masks both inside and outside of buildings as well as while using public transit, will lift the final remaining coronavirus prohibitions.
While the pandemic “has been well contained” with “no notable surge in the number of illnesses so far,” Chief Executive John Lee announced the elimination of the mask requirement on Tuesday. He emphasized that visitors may still need to wear masks when entering high-risk areas like hospitals or nursing homes.
In Lee’s words, “With the masking requirement eliminated, we are starting to resume to normality thoroughly, and that will be extremely advantageous to the economic development, our competitiveness on the global stage, as well as our activities which engage everyone in Hong Kong.”
When the border between Hong Kong and mainland China reopened in January, there was great joy, allowing families and couples to rejoin after years apart — albeit, at the time, while completely veiled.
The government’s decision to remove the mandate is part of an effort to attract tourists and overseas workers to revive Hong Kong, which was previously heavily impacted by the pandemic and pro-democracy protests in 2019. To demonstrate that the city is prepared to move forward, Hong Kong recently launched the “Hello Hong Kong” tourism campaign, which includes a giveaway of half a million plane tickets.
Prior to last year, Hong Kong had implemented strict COVID-19 policies, including lengthy hotel quarantines, flight bans, social distancing measures, and limits on group gatherings. However, these controls faced increasing criticism from business leaders who argued that they were driving talent away.
Up until last year, Hong Kong’s strict covid regulations included extended hotel quarantines, flying bans, social segregation measures, and restrictions on group meetings. Then, corporate executives who said the regulations were driving talent away began to criticize it more and more.
A hefty punishment might be imposed for breaking the mask requirement, which had been in place for more than two years. The penalty for being caught without a mask in public places is up to $1,275, although the police frequently fine violators $637. Masks were once essential when exercising.
Before being hit by a double whammy of political unrest and the covid epidemic, Hong Kong was a well-liked tourism destination in Asia. 65.1 million visitors, a record amount, were there in 2018. Although if the number of visitors increased to over 600,000 in 2022, it is still less than one-hundredth of what it was in 2018.
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