Hong Kong File Photo: VCG

 
Related authorities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and South China's Guangdong Province will establish special teams to discuss the details about resuming travel between the two sides, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced at a press conference on Thursday, after an online consultation with officials from Guangdong.

Lee told the media that officials from both sides agreed that Hong Kong residents can accept quarantine in Hong Kong before entering the mainland to comply with the mainland's 7+3 quarantine requirement for inbound travelers (7 days of centralized quarantine and 3 days of home quarantine).  

After quarantine, these Hong Kong residents can enter the mainland via a "closed channel," according to Lee.

Chief Secretary for the HKSAR administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki will be mainly responsible for the work of the Hong Kong special team. Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung and Hong Kong health secretary Lo Chung-mau will also participate in the work, according to the press conference.   

On Thursday, the first day of the autumn semester in the mainland, Lee also participated online in the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) in Guangzhou, and that of the Minxin Hong Kong School (Guangzhou Nansha) - a school that provides primary and secondary education to Hong Kong students residing on the mainland and other nonlocal children, according to Hong Kong media.  

Lee was earlier expected to visit Guangzhou on Wednesday, but the arrangement was suspended due to recent surge in covid cases both in Hong Kong and Guangdong. Thus an online meeting was arranged instead. 

Hong Kong authorities said on Wednesday that 9,495 new cases had been reported in the city on the previous day.  

Meanwhile, Chinese tech hub Shenzhen, a city in Guangdong that borders Hong Kong with 17 million residents, announced on Wednesday to have tightened epidemic controlling measures amid the COVID-19 case resurgence started on August 28, during which a new Omicron mutation was detected.

According to the strengthened policies, Shenzhen residents who need to leave the city should present proof of two negative nucleic acid test results from within 48 hours, starting from Thursday.