Hong Kong(CNN) One of the last major international cities to require face coverings on Tuesday announced it would end its controversial Covid mask mandate nearly three years after it was implemented to prevent the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong’s mandate, enforced by fines of up to $1,000, requires face coverings in all public spaces.
The rule began for public transportation on July 15, 2020 and was expanded two weeks later to include indoor and outdoor spaces — even though most people in the city began wearing masks. months ago as reports of coronavirus infections spread, leading. in panic buying and shortages in January of that year.
The mandate will be fully lifted by Wednesday, city leader John Lee said at a news briefing Tuesday — 959 days since the transportation rule was imposed.
“We are now back to normal,” Lee said, as Asia’s financial hub launched a major push to welcome business travelers and tourists.
Hong Kong has rolled back several other major controls in recent months, most notably mandatory quarantine for all international arrivals, a move celebrated by travel-hungry residents, members family abroad and struggling local businesses.
Speaking at the same news briefing on Tuesday, Health Secretary Lo Mau-chung said that with the lifting of the mask order, “We have lifted all restrictions on the epidemic.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing a smile on everyone’s face today,” he said. However, he added, the government still advises wearing masks in “high risk” settings such as nursing homes and hospitals.
Most other places in Asia have either fully or partially eased their mask mandates in recent months, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
The World Health Organization is still recommending that health workers wear masks, with Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO’s response to Covid, warning that the virus is “circulating unchecked throughout world today.”
For much of the pandemic, Hong Kong held the unenviable title of having some of the strictest pandemic policies in the world — such as strict quarantines, which at one point required up to 21 days of isolation. in a hotel room, with no visitors allowed. and closed the windows.
Authorities argue that the isolation period is necessary to reduce imported cases and contain local transmission – previously one of the benchmarks needed to reopen the city’s border with mainland China, which follows of a strict zero-Covid policy until it suddenly reopened in China. end of last year.
The order of the mask, too, was criticized at times; in July 2020, during the peak of Hong Kong’s humid and hot summer, the government expanded the mandate to require masks even when exercising outdoors. It returned just weeks ago amid public outcry, acknowledging that people were “avoiding exercise” because of the rule.
“Face masks have played an important role in reducing community transmission in Hong Kong but now that almost everyone is vaccinated and most people are also infected, the lifting of the legal mandate is far from over,” said Karen Grepin, a associate professor at the University. at the School of Public Health in Hong Kong.
“People can now do their own risk assessment to decide if they want to wear one or not.”
