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Hong Kong’s Hotel Quarantine System Buckles Under China Demand

  • Mainland arrivals up 11,000% from April to June taking rooms
  • City leader John Lee under pressure to reduce hotel quarantine
A staff member walks out of a Covid-19 quarantine hotel in Hong Kong. 

A staff member walks out of a Covid-19 quarantine hotel in Hong Kong. 

Photographer: Bertha Wang/AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong’s move to halt flight bans removed one of the biggest headaches for travelers. Yet residents who want to go abroad still face another hurdle: Finding a hotel quarantine room for their return. 

The city’s 24,000 designated hotel quarantine rooms for August until the end of October are struggling to meet demand, as recent decisions to slash isolation to seven days and reopen the border to non-residents prompted a surge of travelers who snapped up reservations sometimes months in advance.