Yes or no? Sources tell local media that discussions are underway to end the increasingly notorious pandemic quarantine regime for travelers.

Hong Kong may announce a decision to end quarantine requirements for travelers from abroad in the next two weeks, various sources indicated on Monday to the «South China Morning Post», the city's largest English language daily newspaper.

According to the publication, one of the sources relayed that a number of discussions had been held between various government offices, with some proponents arguing that arrivals from overseas may simply be required to monitor their health for seven days after arriving.

Since the start of the pandemic, the city's severe quarantine restrictions for overseas travelers and returning residents have been a source of international controversy given that it had been as long as 21 days for extended periods of time, with the business community indicating that it was putting the city's position as a financial center at risk.

Zero-Covid

The government, for its part, regularly noted the necessity of managing restrictions in line with the zero-Covid policy on the mainland although this line of argumentation had become increasingly contested in recent months given the vast majority of infections have been in the city itself and not from abroad.

One of the government's advisors related to the pandemic, Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, also indicated the requirement for travelers to have a negative PCR test 48 hours before boarding should also be reviewed given such passengers are screened in any case when they land.

Infections in the city appear to be subsiding after a recent spike and the current wave does not appear to be putting as much pressure on the city medical system as previous ones have. As finews.asia has reported, Hong Kong is preparing to host an international banking summit and a five-a-side rugby tournament in November.

Possible U-Turn

But it would also be premature to think that everything is on the up and up. COVID-19 policy has experienced its share of u-turns and reversals in recent years.

As finews.asia argued previously, given the different policy sensitivities that the local government needs to pay heed to, it may have already reached a new normal where compulsory mask-wearing and contact tracing with smartphone apps become permanent fixtures of city life.

With the pandemic now a distant memory in many countries, and even the World Health Organization Director-General declaring on 14 September that the end of the pandemic seems to be in sight, the city, and the financial center's best hope for a revived future may lie in returning to a form of reasonable commercial pragmatism.