Hong Kong has streamlined its categorisation of places deemed Covid-19 risks, condensing a five-tier system into three risk levels – high, medium and low – and changed travel rules for overseas arrivals. Countries currently categorised as extremely or very high risk will be consolidated into a new top tier labelled as “high risk”, while those

Singapore will from September remove quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers from Germany and Brunei, in a signal to the world it is cautiously reopening while managing the Covid-19 threat. By trading its previous Covid-Zero approach for a new policy of “Covid resilience”, the city state is setting itself apart from neighbours that are either still

President Joe Biden in May tasked US intelligence agencies with reaching a “definitive conclusion” on the origins of the Covid-19 virus, including the possibility that it emerged from a lab accident, after a first American probe proved inconclusive. While the findings of the 90-day US investigation have yet to be released, the process itself has

A theory that the Covid-19 pandemic could have been sparked by the escape of a virus from a Chinese laboratory has amped up tensions between Washington and Beijing. It has also raised questions about US funding for bat coronavirus research at a lab at the heart of the controversy. Among those driving the questions is

A nasal spray Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and his team with a mainland China university and pharmaceutical firm has been approved for emergency use by the national authorities. Yuen, from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), on Monday night said the development was a “historic breakthrough”. “The biggest meaning

Alan* was barred from entering a Hong Kong restaurant where his family had gathered to commemorate his late wife after her funeral in April because he had not received a Covid-19 vaccine. “It was shameful. It was upsetting. It was my wife, a senior member of the family,” the 63-year-old owner of an IT company

Beijing’s long-awaited easing of coronavirus precautions has sparked hopes that Hong Kong may soon be able to fully reopen its border with mainland China, as well as do away with traveller entry restrictions, the city’s business leaders and health experts have said. Commerce sector lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, also a member of the key decision-making

The number of Hongkongers receiving their fourth coronavirus jab has risen more than fivefold in the past week, with about 81 per cent of them opting for the Omicron-specific vaccine available since last Thursday. The government announced on Wednesday that more residents would be eligible for the BioNTech bivalent shots, which contain components of the

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong has further eased its quarantine and isolation measures following mainland China’s major shift away from its zero-Covid policy, but a continuing surge in daily infections is keeping the city from lifting social-distancing

US pharmaceutical giant Moderna is looking to collaborate with Hong Kong scientists on vaccine development after setting up a local manufacturing branch, with a long-term goal to tap into the mainland Chinese market. In an interview with the Post, Patrick Bergstedt, Moderna senior vice-president and head of emerging markets, said the Hong Kong subsidiary would

Hong Kong residents, businesspeople and visitors all have high hopes that the long-awaited lifting of the city’s travel restrictions and the end of medical supervision rules for arrivals will help put the bounce back in the economy. But business leaders and economists said it could take more than a year for the city to recover

Singapore healthcare providers are expecting a wave of travellers requiring pre-departure PCR coronavirus tests in the coming months as China eases its border measures. Unihealth handles around 100-150 swabs for such tests across its four clinics each week, and it expects these numbers to increase. Medical director and family doctor Xie Huizhuang said there had

Close contacts of Covid-19 patients at care homes for the elderly in Hong Kong will no longer be sent to quarantine centres, while extra hospital beds and manpower will be added to cope with a potential influx of people at public health facilities, authorities have said. The government on Thursday announced the new measures in

Private hospitals and doctors in Hong Kong have cast doubts on the viability of them giving Covid-19 jabs for a fee, despite a government insistence that manufacturers were “striving” to offer vaccines to the sector. The private operators on Friday said they were sceptical about the scheme because free shots were easily available to residents

A lot of people have been turning to wearable fitness devices to help them get into shape. The wearable devices market in China is expected to grow 20 per cent per year to reach a market size of over US$20 billion in 2025, a joint report by BDA and OC&C found. Wearable technology such as

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong will drop almost all Covid-19 measures starting from Thursday, including mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for arrivals, its vaccine pass scheme and quarantine requirements for close contacts, following similar action by

Scores of central bankers from around the world will gather in Hong Kong next month for a meeting to be hosted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), marking the first major international financial event since the city fully reopened its border in December. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is getting ready for the Basel

China’s wealthiest consumers will continue to splurge on luxury items like designer bags and watches as the economy reopens, even as middle-class shoppers refrain from buying big-ticket items, unnerved by worries about their job prospects and wages, according to Bain & Company. The global consultancy said in its latest report on China’s luxury market that