The Hong Kong government has announced that it will extend the expiry dates of various regulations under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance to March 31 next year.
According to a statement released on its official news website (news.gov.hk) yesterday, “although the [COVID-19] epidemic situation in Hong Kong is currently under control, the global pandemic situation remains severe and there is a need to extend the regulations’ expiry dates so that the government can respond swiftly and implement the corresponding measures under the relevant statutory framework.”
The government said that the extension will cover two regulations on compulsory quarantine for people arriving in Hong Kong, both currently effective until September 30.
According to the statement, it also covers another six regulations on disease prevention and control in the aspects of information disclosure, businesses and premises, group-gathering prohibition, cross-boundary conveyances and travellers, and facemask-wearing, all currently effective until September 30, and compulsory testing for certain people currently effective till Saturday.
The government will gazette the amendments of these regulations to extend their effective dates to March 31, the statement noted.
The government pointed out in the statement that “extending the expiry dates of the relevant regulations does not imply that the restrictions currently imposed under those regulations will be maintained until the corresponding expiry dates,” adding that “the relevant statutory framework has provisions to allow for flexibility such that the government may tighten, relax or even suspend specific requirements and conditions subject to epidemic development.”
As of yesterday, Hong Kong’s COVID-19 tally stood at 12,020 including 212 fatalities, according to worldometers.info. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has a population of 7.5 million.
