During the COVID-19 pandemic, stringent border control measures have been implemented to prevent importation of the disease into Hong Kong. In the early stage, strengthened temperature screening and health declaration requirement were implemented. To reduce cross-boundary movement of travellers, passenger clearance service for all boundary control points (BCPs) were suspended except the control points at Hong Kong International Airport, Shenzhen Bay and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge since early February 2020.
Subsequently, various subsidiary legislations of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance have been enacted to provide legal basis for the implementation of additional inbound control measures. Compulsory quarantine requirement was imposed for Mainland returnees since early February and had later extended to all inbound travellers. As the disease gradually spread all over the world, pre-departure testing and vaccination requirement for travellers arriving by flights as well as flight suspension mechanism were introduced.
Since early April 2020, all inbound travellers arriving by flights were required to self-collect a deep throat saliva specimen at the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre for SARS-CoV-2 PCR. It was changed to collection of combined nasal and throat swab by dedicated staff in mid-December 2020. From 15 December 2020 to 28 December 2022, swab specimens were collected from about 2.43 million travellers with over 44,400 positive detection which corresponded to a positive rate of 1.89%.
Apart from inbound control measures, Hong Kong has also implemented SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing for outbound travellers to the Mainland at the BCPs in March 2022 so as to prevent the exportation of local cases and to support the Mainland’s anti-epidemic efforts. About 565,700 travellers were tested and over 8,730 positive cases (Positive rate: 1.54%) were identified.
