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Congratulations to Hong Kong men’s foil player Edgar Cheung for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for winning Hong Kong’s historic second Olympic gold medal

Our BUSPRO new theme poster is here this month!

BusPro has a brand new theme poster this year, and hopes to bring you 100% satisfactory service now and future.

Macau Government: Customs clearance with be considered after Hong Kong has non local cases for 14 consecutive days. Citizen who have been injected are exempt from quarantine. Reprinted from BUSPRO.

Hong Kong’s new crown pneumonia epidemic has slowed down, and some experts believe that it will soon be possible to discuss customs clearance with the Mainland and Macau. The Macau government held a press conference today (17th), stating that if there are no local cases in Hong Kong for 14 consecutive days, it will be able to proceed with the next detailed consultation. Some Macau media quoted local officials as saying that the options that can be considered include shortening the number of days of quarantine or exempting people from both sides who have been vaccinated.

On the other hand, Bloomberg News quoted unnamed news that the Hong Kong government will once again allow immigrants who have completed vaccinations to shorten the quarantine period. By then, those who come to Hong Kong from most places will be able to shorten the quarantine as long as the antibody is positive. Period up to 7 days. However, the implementation time of the plan has not yet been determined.

Regarding the customs clearance arrangements between Macau and Hong Kong, although Hong Kong has not had a local case for 10 consecutive days, the immigration measures between Hong Kong and Macau must be liberalized. The premise is that there is no local case for 14 consecutive days before we can proceed to the next step in detail. Consultation. The Contingency Coordination Center emphasized that even if there is an opportunity to restrict entry and exit measures in the future, it must be carried out in a gradual manner. Implementation conditions and restrictions on the number of people need to be discussed again. No final decision has been made yet.

“Macau Daily” quoted Liang Yihao, the coordinator of the Department of Infectious Disease Control and Disease Surveillance, as saying that in terms of customs clearance, it will consider options such as shortening the number of quarantine medical observation days for people who have been vaccinated by Hong Kong and Macao, or exempting quarantine medical observation, but emphasizes Both need to be discussed in detail, and the approval of the governments of the two places is required before they can be implemented.

On the other hand, Bloomberg News today quoted an unnamed report saying that the Hong Kong government will once again allow immigrants who have completed vaccination to shorten the quarantine period. According to the report, visitors arriving in Hong Kong from most places can shorten the quarantine period to 7 days as long as they test positive for antibodies. The government is studying different methods of antibody testing, including “finger.” According to the report, the source said that when the plan can actually be implemented has not yet been decided, depending on when the antibody test can be implemented. However, people from high-risk areas are not eligible for this relaxation of quarantine.

History and Introduction about Dragon Boat Festival by BusPro

What is the Dragon Boat Festival? The Tuen Ng Festival or Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday that falls on different dates each year depending on the lunar calendar. In China, it is a 3-day national holiday, but it is one-day public holiday in Hong Kong.

Racing these long boats on Tuen Ng Festival is an old tradition. In the past, mainly fishermen competed.

What is a Dragon Boat? These long canoes mimic the old war canoes of the past. The crews paddle to the beat of a drummer. Various heats and competitions are held around the region, and canoes vary in size from 20 to 80 people.

“Cruise-to-nowhere” itineraries can resume under set of health control protocols from end-July. extracted from Hong Kong Government Press Release.

The Government announced today (May 26) that cruise lines are expected to resume, for Hong Kong residents, “cruise-to-nowhere” (CTN) itineraries, which do not involve ports outside Hong Kong, at end-July 2021 the earliest on the condition that they strictly comply with a set of health precautionary measures specifically designed for cruise travel.

     “With the stabilising COVID-19 epidemic situation in Hong Kong since mid-February this year, the public, the cruise trade and the tourism industry have strong aspirations for the gradual resumption of cruise travel which has been suspended for more than 15 months since February last year. The resumption of CTN itineraries under prudent health precautionary measures can strike a proper balance between public health protection on the one hand, and the public aspirations for some form of leisure travel on the other. CTN itineraries underpinned by health control safeguards will offer an additional safe vacation option for the community as from the coming summer,” the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, said.

     The health precautionary measures, which have been worked out in consultation with relevant bureaux and departments (B/Ds) as well as the cruise trade, include:

(a) all incoming crew members are required to comply with the prevailing quarantine and testing requirements for travellers entering Hong Kong (see Note 1);  

(b) all crew members must be fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines recognised by health authorities before commencement of a cruise journey, except for those not suitable to do so with valid medical proof. Non-local crew members who have not been vaccinated prior to entry into Hong Kong may receive vaccinations for free in Hong Kong, and they have to be fully vaccinated before they can serve on a cruise journey. Cruise lines will strictly implement the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for crew members;

(c) all fully vaccinated crew members are still required to undergo a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) nucleic acid test shoreside and obtain a negative result every 14 days. Meanwhile, crew members who are not suitable for vaccination due to medical grounds must undergo every seven days a COVID-19 PCR nucleic acid test shoreside and obtain a negative result, as well as undergo every three days testing at on-board facilities and obtain a negative result;

(d) all passengers must be fully vaccinated (see Note 2), except for those not suitable to do so with medical proof or aged below 16, before commencement of a cruise journey;

(e) all passengers have to undergo a COVID-19 PCR nucleic acid test within 48 hours prior to boarding and obtain a negative result;

(f) cruise lines are required to adopt a maximum 50 per cent passenger capacity on a cruise ship, comply with the respective sets of hygiene, social distancing and contact tracing measures for various similar premises and facilities in force under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F), and promulgate contact tracing mechanism for journeys; and

(g) passengers are required to use the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile application to scan the QR code of the cruise ship before boarding. After boarding, they must also follow the social distancing and contact tracing mechanism executed by the cruise lines.

     There will be a robust contingency management mechanism catering for fluctuations of the local epidemic situation. In the event that there is a suspected case on board during a cruise journey, the journey will be suspended at once and the cruise ship will return to the cruise terminal in Hong Kong. Relevant B/Ds will invoke contingency management measures based on an epidemiological investigation and laboratory findings, having regard to the circumstances of the case and relevant health guidelines. Such measures may include requiring the concerned passengers and crew members to undergo testing, medical surveillance and/or quarantine. 

     “Given the nature of a cruise operation, considerable lead time is required for cruise lines to prepare for resumption of CTN itineraries. The announcement today enables the tourism industry, in particular cruise lines, to make preparations for the resumption immediately by arranging their cruise ships and crew members to come to Hong Kong. In fact, cruise lines interested in resuming CTN itineraries have already indicated that they will arrange crew members suitable for vaccination or those already vaccinated to serve in Hong Kong to the extent possible. Hong Kong residents who have yet to be vaccinated may wish to do so as soon as possible in order that they may join CTN itineraries. The relevant B/Ds will, in the meantime, continue to work in tandem with the cruise lines in the coming few weeks on the detailed execution plan and on-board inspections,” Mr Yau said.

     Relevant further information will also be uploaded to Tourism Commission’s website before CTN itineraries resume.

Note 1: Such requirements include those under the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C), the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E) and the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H) where applicable.

Note 2: For both the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine (CoronaVac vaccine) and Fosun Pharma/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty vaccine), “fully vaccinated” in general means having received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine 14 clear days ago.
 Ends/Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Issued at HKT 12:10

BUSPRO wishes all good luck

• Quarantine requirement to be dropped for mainland visitors to Hong Kong from mid-May, subject to screening conditions; city confirms 13 new cases
• Officials also unveil plans for bars reopening, care home visits and shorter quarantine, with Singapore ‘travel bubble’ details imminent

Key points:

– Social-distancing measures at restaurants will be relaxed in phased, conditional approach, extending dine-in services as late 2am and allowing maximum of 12 to a table

– “Return2HK” scheme will be expanded to cover the rest of mainland China in late April, exemptions also offered from mid-May to non-Hong Kong residents crossing the border into the city

– Bars and pubs can reopen at limited capacity when all staff and customers have received first vaccine dose, further easing if both shots taken

– Fully inoculated people can visit care homes after passing rapid virus test

– Authorities looking to cut quarantine stays for fully vaccinated arrivals from lower-risk countries, possibly to under seven days for some

– Flight ban for Britain will be removed in May, but arrivals to Hong Kong still required to quarantine for 21 days

– All airlines on a route to be banned if one is found to bring passengers to the city who test positive for a mutant Covid-19 strain

Hongkongers who have been vaccinated for Covid-19 will be allowed to dine out in bigger groups and enjoy other easing social-distancing measures as well as become eligible for limited travel under “vaccination bubble” incentives offered by the government to boost the city’s inoculation rate.

Extracted from South China Morning Post 13/4/2021