Hong Kong will lift all travel restrictions on those arriving in the city and testing negative for Covid-19 from Wednesday, the local newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported today.

The head of the Hong Kong government, John Lee Ka-chiu, announced the new measures before the weekly meeting with the Executive Council, according to the English-language daily.

Until now, anyone arriving in the Chinese administrative region, in the south of the country and neighboring Macau, had to comply with the '0+3' regime, without the need to quarantine in a hotel, but with three days of medical self-management at home, during which time the yellow health code was maintained, which prohibited entry into restaurants, for example.

With the new measure, Hong Kong adopts the '0+0' regime and all arrivals in the territory with a negative Covid test will have a blue health code, which means they can walk freely around the city, the SCMP said.

Under the new rules, anyone who tests positive will keep the red health code and be obliged to respect the current isolation protocol.

Lee also said that, as of Wednesday, residents will no longer have to scan a QR code to register to enter places in the city, although restaurant customers and people visiting certain facilities will still need to show their vaccination record.

"Decisions are based on data and risks. The risk of infection from imported cases is lower than the risk of local infections. We believe that lifting [the measures] will not increase the risk of local outbreaks," said Lee, quoted by the SCMP.

Regarding the possible opening of the border between Hong Kong and inland China, Lee said that the government had been actively negotiating with the central authorities. "The inland authorities also attach great importance to this," he added.

Last week, Hong Kong eased its quarantine and isolation measures after Beijing changed its 'zero Covid' policy.

An increase in daily infections had prevented the city from lifting social distancing rules, the newspaper recalled.

Hong Kong health authorities recorded a total of 14,717 cases on Monday, 5% of which were imported.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, Hong Kong has exceeded 2.2 million infections and recorded 10,959 deaths since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Notícias ao Minuto)