Health & Environment

A number of premises like public wet markets, religious venues and game centres will no longer have active vaccine checks for visitors starting from today, but scanning the LeaveHomeSafe QR code is still required. Active inspections of vaccine passes will be scrapped for premises, as the government announced last Thursday. No actively check is patron’s vaccination records or exemption certificates upon their entry. That means amber code holders are permitted to visit those venues. People under the category of amber code means they are inbound visitors from overseas places or Taiwan, who are not allowed to enter premises subject to "active checking" of the vaccine pass. Wong Muk-ching, dean of Lai Yiu Alliance Church welcomes the policy, he said using vaccine pass to decide whether the congregation can go back to the church was unacceptable. “Amber code holders can go back to the church after the policy implemented, which they are not allowed to do so before,” Wong said. “There are people who have obtained amber codes due to not having the valid vaccine pass which has restricted them from going back to church during the COVID-19 outbreak. Those having an amber code can return the church in a legal way,” he added. Wong said the government has enacted effective policy in coping with COVID-19, ensuring those who are infected will not be able to enter the church. “This policy now even makes those with amber codes entering the church more conveniently,” he said. “Ice rinks which require facemasks and cinemas that prohibit food or drink could drop “active checking”,” Libby Lee Ha-yun, Under Secretary for Health announced today in the press conference. But one day before the launch of the updated policies, the government announced that social distancing measures for these two venues remain the same as before, meaning …

Following Taiwan's reopening of its borders to the first international groups last month, the authorities announced that Hong Kong visitors could travel in groups starting from Monday, but it failed to satisfy many who have been looking forward to visiting the island. Travellers must travel in groups of five to 40 people through a Taiwan-approved travel agency and can stay on the island for a maximum of 15 days. Visitors are no longer required to undergo PCR testing or quarantine upon entry. They must obtain a negative result of a rapid antigen test result within two days of arrival and monitor themselves for a week. Taiwan has always been one of the popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people. Due to COVID-19, Taiwan authorities have imposed border controls for two and a half years. Man Tak-ming, 74, managing director of Maywood Travel, who has organised Taiwan travel groups for 40 years, believes the new policy helps attract Hongkongers to visit Taiwan. “Hongkongers love to spend their weekend holidays in Taiwan, as the flight only takes an hour to get there, and airfare and accommodation are not expensive,” Man said. Chung Chi-kan, 67, managing director of Globair Limited, said the ease of border control would “definitely” benefit the local tourism industry, but the flight capacity should be complementary with the reopening of borders. “The airline companies should offer more flight and seat supplies to cope with the surge of tourists after the reopening of borders, while the amount of the flight capacity has not yet returned to the pre-Covid level,” Chung said. However, many Hongkongers prefer to arrange their own travel to Taiwan rather than join a tour group. Eunice Leung, 50, welcomed the policy but suggested that self-guided tours would be more attractive. She is looking forward to bringing her …

Freelancer Chan Pui-leung began to make his travel plans for Hong Kong after the government relaxed the mandatory quarantine requirement to “0+3” in late September, which means that inbound travellers no longer required to spend three days in isolation at a designated hotel and an additional four days at home for medical monitoring. Instead, they only need to undergo a three-day medical surveillance at home. “It is more convenient because it is more flexible to schedule returns and outbound travel,” the 29-year-old said. Hong Kong's tourism industry has been hit hard for more than two years by the city's adoption of one of the world's most stringent covid-19 policies for inbound visitors, such as hotel isolation, PCR testing and social distancing. Hongkongers who want to travel are also restricted by the policy. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the number of visitors to Hong Kong in 2021 dropped by 99.8 percent compared to pre-Covid-19 figures. Chan, who is staying in Japan, said he postponed his return to Hong Kong when the "3+4" scheme took effect. “The ‘3+4’ policy was not very practical and cost the public a lot of money. ‘0+3’ is more acceptable to locals, but it is still very inconvenient for foreign visitors and international business,” Chan said. However, Chan added that the restraints on the vaccine pass, which limits travelers movement in the first three days, remain off-putting. According to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the relaxation of isolation requirements came after a steady decline in Covid-19 infections, signaling a return to a bustling city environment. “We made this decision after we took factors such as livelihoods, economic activities, Hong Kong’s competitiveness, convenience for arrivals into account, as well as striking a balance between various needs,” he said. Overseas arrivals are now only required to take …

The road to becoming a plus-size model is never easy for 24-year-old Lezile Chan, who now takes this as her career in Hong Kong. She once lost 45 kilograms under the expectation of elders and peers regarding her body image, but only got stuck in worse condition, mentally and physically. “Undergoing some great changes in life while dieting and exercising, I didn’t step out of my home for one month and found myself with symptoms of depression,” she said. Chan is now moving on from her body anxiety and made a successful debut as a plus-size model. But body anxiety remains a problem in the city, especially among young females under the wide use of social media. A total of 85.2% of the 3,544 Hong Kong high school girls surveyed were dissatisfied with their body image, and wanted to lose weight although the majority were already considered slim. “Not many people are very confident in their bodies, especially females, as society sets a higher beauty standard for them than males,” said Wong Kit-mui, an associate professor from the department of sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University. “The unrealistic beauty standard, namely having a slender curvy body shape, can be understood as a money-making tool in the beauty industry,” Wong added. The trend started when alluring female body images showed up on billboards in Hong Kong in the late 90s, and developed further with the rise of social media use since 2000. Young people, especially women, frequently post photos on social media platforms. About 90% of young women in Hong Kong access Instagram daily and spend 1.5 hours on average, and 85% have posted their selfies on social media, according to a survey conducted in 2018 by MWYO, a local research organisation on youth issues. “Users are implanted with the thought …

The government announced live performances will resume in premises from Oct. 20, as social distancing measures are further relaxed. Live performances and dance shows will be allowed to resume in bars, nightclubs, movie theatres, museums and other indoor areas next Thursday, said Under Secretary for Health, Libby Lee Ha-yun, at a press conference yesterday. Performers must conduct PCR tests twice a week, Lee said. Negative rapid antigen test results remain required before entering the performance venue. Performers should wear masks when performing on stage. Babita Rai, 47, manager of Ned Kelly's Last Stand, a live music venue in Tsim Sha Tsui, said she welcomes the policy. The bar, which has been in operation since 1972, has faced a huge financial loss since 2020, she said. "After Oct 20, we will do everything to recover our loss," Rai said. The maximum number of people per table increased from eight to 12 for food premises and 4 to 6 for bars and nightclubs on Sept 30, 2022.

More than 20 students queue up at the residential halls after Hong Kong Baptist University requires the LeaveHomeSafe mobile app, while lifting all other registration requirements and to set foot in the school.   Starting from Oct 8, students and staff need to scan the LeaveHomeSafe QR code before entering the university, according to the school's internal email delivered last Monday.  The new arrangement replaced the identity verification and health declaration that was used since the start of the pandemic. Vaccination requirement is lifted to attend face-to-face lessons, despite special premises including sport facilities and restaurants. The undergraduate housings firstly started the LeaveHomeSafe system last Friday, together with the existing identity verification system. Only blue code holders are permitted to the hall. “Last time I spent around 15 minutes to get in and then waiting for the elevator for an even longer time,” said Yernar Baltabay, a hall resident. “ People are forced to huddle together.”  The undergraduate halls offer 1,770 residences for full-time students. Residents have to record their entrance to the hall by scanning the LeaveHomeSafe QR code, and scan the vaccine pass by a mobile phone app at an appropriate distance and angle. The mobile phone cannot detect vaccine passes sometimes, according to Freya Chan, a hall resident. “Usually you will spend a long time getting the machine to read your QR code. If you move slowly, the queue will start behind you. That is extremely embarrassing,” she said. If the scanning does not work, students need to show their vaccine records to security guards in the hall for confirmation. “We are willing to better serve students using this system, but we now spend more time and energy checking the Vaccine Pass in person, because the machine is not working well,” said the security guard Chan Chung, who …