What Hong Kong’s 3+4 means for inbound travellers

They are required to undergo a 3-day hotel quarantine and day medical surveillance.

The Hong Kong government clarified the 3+4 quarantine arrangement is not a relaxation of policy, but a change in strategy. 

The arrangement requires inbound travellers to undergo 3 days of hotel quarantine, followed by 4 days of medical surveillance. This will not cover local residents, Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said.

“The fact is that local residents are already in the community and are already living in their home environment. There is a difference. Whereas those inbound passengers have not yet got into the community, so we have the responsibility to stop them from getting into the community. For local residents, when they tested positive, they are already at home, and that is the difference,” he said.

“We have to stop the viruses coming from abroad. There is also the possibility of more variants of the virus coming from abroad, and we have to make sure that we protect the local community.”

Read more: HK cuts hotel quarantine period down to 3 days

He added that the arrangement retained the seven-day required period. It also did not by any means ease the testing requirements for travellers.

“We have not reduced the length, but we change the four additional days of hotel quarantine into four days of medical surveillance, including the amber code which restricts their high-risk activities, and also requires more PCR testing (polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid testing), so that we can identify them and prevent the virus from getting into our local community,” he said.