Latest Quarantine Advisories for Travellers:10 FAQs

1. What are the health quarantine arrangements for inbound travellers? What are the specified conditions imposed on inbound travellers?
2. What is the quarantine period?
3. How to define the period of relevant travel history?
4. What is meant by “fully vaccinated”? What are the COVID-19 vaccines recognised by Hong Kong?
5. For persons who have received mixed doses of vaccination overseas, are they regarded as “completed a COVID-19 vaccination course”?
6. If I am arriving Hong Kong at night, can I exclude the hotel reservation for the first day?
7. What tests are accepted as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based nucleic acid test for COVID-19?
8. If I transit via Hong Kong without entering Hong Kong, would home quarantine measures applied to me?
9. What is the arrangement for “Test and Hold”?
10. How to apply for the Return2hk Scheme / Come2hk Scheme?

1. What are the health quarantine arrangements for inbound travellers? What are the specified conditions imposed on inbound travellers?

   For details, please refer to this webpage.

2. What is the quarantine period?

   The date of arrival in Hong Kong is Day 1 and the quarantine period will last from Day 1 to 23:59 of the last day of compulsory quarantine (i.e. Day 7, Day 14 or Day 21).

3. How to define the period of relevant travel history?

   The travel history is back counted from the arrival day (Day 0) for 21 days.
   For example, if a person arrives in Hong Kong on 22 Jan (Day 0), relevant travel history period includes 21 Jan (Day -1) to 1 Jan (Day -21).

4. What is meant by “fully vaccinated”? What are the COVID-19 vaccines recognised by Hong Kong?

   The 14th day after a person has completed a COVID-19 vaccination course is counted by taking the next day after the person received all of the recommended dose(s) of COVID-19 vaccine as the 1st day.

   For example, for a person who has not been infected with COVID-19 previously and received the last recommended dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 10 May 2021, the "1st day" would be 11 May and the "14th day" would be 24 May. This person can be considered "fully vaccinated" starting on 24 May.

   For persons arriving at Hong Kong whose vaccines were administered outside Hong Kong, apart from the COVID-19 vaccines already recognised for use in Hong Kong, other vaccines included on this list are also accepted:

   Click here for the “List of COVID-19 Vaccines Recognised for Specified Purposes”

5. For persons who have received mixed doses of vaccination overseas, are they regarded as “completed a COVID-19 vaccination course”?

   According to the regulation, “For individuals who received COVID-19 vaccines in places outside of Hong Kong and have received the recommended doses as stipulated in relevant guidelines, they will also be regarded to have completed the vaccination course...”. If there is documentary proof issued by the healthcare institution or a relevant government authority presented together to show clearly that the relevant health authority officially recommended mix doses of the two vaccinations and stipulated in relevant guideline, it can be regarded as acceptable. Nevertheless, the vaccine(s) have to be included on the list of vaccines recognised for this purpose as published on the Government's COVID-19 thematic website.

6. If I am arriving Hong Kong at night, can I exclude the hotel reservation for the first day?

   Under Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H), a relevant inbound traveller must provide a confirmation in Chinese or English of room reservation in a hotel in Hong Kong for not less than 21/14/7 nights starting on the day of the arrival of the relevant traveller in Hong Kong before boarding a flight to Hong Kong. The inbound travellers concerned who fail to produce the relevant specified documents will be refused to board the flight.

   Example: if a traveller is subject to 21-night requirement: regardless of his/her time of arrival, the relevant traveller should have a hotel reservation for not less than 22 Days 21 Nights starting on the day of arrival. If he/she arrives Hong Kong on 1 Janurary (Day 1), his/her hotel reservation should start from 1 January until 22 January or later (i.e. Check-in date on 1 January and check-out date on 22 January or later).

7. What tests are accepted as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based nucleic acid test for COVID-19?

   Laboratories and healthcare institutions may use different terms which are equivalent to PCR-based nucleic acid test. The following are common acceptable terms for "PCR-based nucleic acid test": "Polymerase chain reaction" ("PCR"), "reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction" ("RT-PCR"), "real-time PCR", "real time RT-PCR", "quantitative PCR", "qPCR", "quantitative RT-PCR", "qRT-PCR", "TrueNAT" and "CBNAAT".

8. If I transit via Hong Kong without entering Hong Kong, would home quarantine measures applied to me?

   Quarantine measures are only applicable to persons who enter Hong Kong. The quarantine requirement does not apply to transit passenger who arrives at the Hong Kong International Airport or enters the waters of Hong Kong solely for the purpose of leaving Hong Kong and, while in Hong Kong, does not pass through immigration control.

9. What is the arrangement for “Test and Hold”?

   The Department of Health (DH) has set up a Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at the Hong Kong International Airport to speed up the collection of specimen from asymptomatic inbound travellers for conducting testing for COVID-19. All asymptomatic inbound travellers arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) will be mandated to wait for test results after testing for COVID-19 at the TSCC. If their test results are negative, they will be allowed to leave the hotel and go to a designated place immediately to continue completion of the compulsory quarantine. Confirmed cases and their close contacts will respectively be arranged for admission to hospital and sent to designated quarantine centres by ambulance and vehicles arranged by the Government directly.

10. How to apply for the Return2hk Scheme / Come2hk Scheme?

    Please visit the thematic website of Return2hk Scheme / Come2hk Scheme.

Last revision date : 05/08/2021