(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong may shorten its quarantine period for travelers, one of the most extreme in the world, amid a fast-moving outbreak of omicron that has already overwhelmed the city's infrastructure for isolating people at high risk for Covid.
The omicron variant appears to spread more quickly than previous strains of the virus, potentially reducing the length of time it takes for a new infection to develop, studies suggest.
“Because of omicron taking over delta globally, we are also looking at the omicron incubation data,” Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said in an interview on Bloomberg TV Thursday morning. “If there's room to adjust the quarantine period, we will do it.”
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“We are doing a review everyday,” she said. “Once we have further adjustments, we will announce.”
Hong Kong is considering cutting quarantine for overseas arrivals to 14 days from 21 days, Sing Tao Daily reported later Thursday, citing people it didn't identify. The South China Morning Post said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam is expected to announce the shortening of the quarantine period at a 5:30 p.m. press briefing.
The policy review comes as Hong Kong's travel quarantine policy is increasingly out of step with global norms, where isolation periods for infected people are shortening over omicron. Even health officials in mainland China, which practices a strict Covid-Zero policy as well, have said that anything over 14 days is likely an overreaction.
The city's cramped and poorly ventilated hotels have also been responsible for spreading the virus, with at least four instances of travelers becoming infected by others in the same facility.
Hong Kong Hotel Quarantine Criticized After Omicron Outbreak
City officials are considering shortening the 21-day period to 14 days after the Lunar New Year holiday, local media Sing Tao reported Thursday.
Hong Kong is currently dealing with one of its biggest outbreaks since the pandemic began, with some 560 local cases reported since end of December. The city's main quarantine center, called Penny's Bay, is housing about 2,500 people who were close contacts of those infected or new arrivals from the airport across 1,805 units. There are another 382 units still available.
But those numbers don't include people tied to an outbreak in a public housing complex in the city, where officials confined about 5,000 people to their apartments in two of the estate's 16 blocks since last week. The outbreak has continued to gain steam, with additional infections being reported every day in the city that went for most of 2021 without a significant number of Covid cases.
Home quarantine may be an option in the future if the government-run centers become full, Chan said. Any change needs to first tackle operational issues such as getting supplies and support to those who would be affected, she said, such as those residents currently locked down in the Kwai Chung housing estate.
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“If we have used up all of our Penny's Bay capacity, which is not unlimited -- yes, home quarantine would be an option,” she said. “But of course we would have to assess the risk as to who will be going to Penny's Bay and who will be having home quarantine.”
The comments come as Hong Kong hews to a zero-tolerance approach in step with mainland China, even as the strategy has required increasingly aggressive measures as the virus mutates to become more transmissible. It's not expected to change, even as the measures extract a financial and emotional toll on the city and its inhabitants.
“Obviously public health considerations are number one,” said Chan.
With the emergence of omicron and delta in the community, the former British colony has limited dining hours, shut bars, cinemas and gyms and closed schools to slow its spread. It also culled hamsters, put young children and travelers in quarantine camps, and banned flights from eight places to eliminate any potential threat of a Covid flare-up. And still new infections climb.
Return to Normal
Chan said she's “optimistic” Hong Kong can return to some resemblance of normalcy within a year. “We are in control of the virus,” she said.
While most economies have shifted to some form of living with the virus, Hong Kong's zero-tolerance approach has hurt its reputation as a global financial hub. The policy could keep the city cut off from most of the world until 2024 and fuel a large-scale exodus of international workers and executives, according to a draft report from the European Chamber of Commerce.
Hong Kong Covid Isolation Could Last to 2024, Euro Chamber Says
The current outbreak in Hong Kong means now isn't the time to reopen the border with mainland China, Chan said, though progress was made in November and December.
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