Hong Kong Ends Mandatory City-Run Isolation for Covid Variants
This article is for subscribers only.
Hong Kong will no longer require people infected with the most highly infectious Covid-19 subvariants to isolate at government-run facilities, scrapping a rule that led many to fear reporting infections as cases surged in the city.
Local patients with omicron subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4 or BA.5, and their close contacts, will no longer face mandatory isolation at community facilities starting today, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, an official at the Health Department’s Center for Health Protection. Patients must meet criteria to allow them to safely isolate at home instead, including an appropriate bedroom and bathroom, she said at a briefing. No high-risk individuals may be in the home.