Hong Kong will loosen its mask mandate on Wednesday, lifting the last major restrictions to contain Covid-19 as the government seeks to revive the city as a financial center after more than two and a half years of controlling the pandemic.
John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, announced on Tuesday that the measure, which was implemented in July 2020 and comes with a fine of HK$5,000 (US$640), will be withdrawn in order to attract businesses and tourists back to the city.
“We think this is the best time to make this decision. This is a clear message to show Hong Kong is moving on to normal,” said Lee, who was once the city’s top police officer. “We will focus on the economy and urban development this year and next after we resume normality.”
Hong Kong has been a global outlier in terms of pandemic control, only beginning to loosen strict Covid policies in December and maintaining a mask mandate longer than any other country in the region, with many wearing masks widely even without legal requirements.
Macau, a Chinese region close to Hong Kong, relaxed its outdoor and indoor mask mandate on Monday, while Taiwan, which stopped requiring masks outdoors in November, also relaxed them for indoor use this month. Japan, which has never enacted an official mask mandate, announced it would ease guidelines earlier this month.
“By lifting the mask mandate, we have now officially lifted all anti-epidemic restrictions,” said health secretary Lo Chung-mau. “Hong Kong is back to normal. We can all put a smile on our faces.”
From Wednesday, Hong Kong residents will not have to wear face coverings outdoors as well as indoors and on public transport, although masks are still required in hospitals and recommended in nursing homes for the elderly.
Shares of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, rose as much as 2.6 percent on Friday before giving results, while local cosmetics store Sa Sa registered a 5.2 percent jump by early afternoon.
“This step is effective [symbolises] the end of the era for masks in Asia,” said Iris Pang, chief economist for China at ING. “We are finally reconnecting with the world.”
Hong Kong’s economy has been crippled by the Covid-19 ban after the city followed mainland China in imposing strict curfews that included banning tourists and requiring overseas arrivals to quarantine for up to three weeks. Hong Kong’s gross domestic product declined 3.5 percent last year, the second annual contraction during the pandemic.
Along with the security crackdown that followed pro-democracy protests in 2019, the rules undermined the city’s status as a financial center, driving an exodus of businesses, expats and residents.
Hong Kong’s government was initially slow to introduce masks, before invoking colonial-era emergency powers to ban face coverings in October 2019 after protesters wore them to avoid surveillance. Residents, heeding the lessons of the 2003 Sars outbreak, began wearing masks against official advice before the mandate came into force in July 2020.
Carrie Lam, the city’s unpopular former leader, has even encouraged officials not to wear masks during the pandemic, citing a shortage of supplies.
Hong Kong recorded around 499,000 visitors in January after lifting border restrictions and resuming quarantine-free travel with mainland China, compared with 6.8 million in the same month of 2019.