According to reports, the country saw an exodus of 187,000 people in the last three years as residents escaped to safer pastures. We use the largest wearing survey (n = 20 million) and obtain our estimates from regions across six India Dot Com Private Limited. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. At least now tourists dont have to worry about being fined for not wearing a mask in the street, said Pamela Mak, president of Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day.It's free. The same thing has happened in some countries in Latin America: Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, for example. For business its a game changer, said Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Ltd. Before, a lot of people would stay away from Hong Kong because the mask was showing that we were still stuck in the Covid days.. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Hong Kong will stop requiring masks to be worn in public places from Wednesday, drawing to a close the prolonged Covid era that damaged its economy and standing in the world. Next month will see Hong Kong host the biggest series of international events since often-violent protests in 2019shut downmuch of the city, including a music festival, Art Basel and the Rugby Sevens tournament. The National Authority for Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management (NCEMA) has announced face covers to be optional. The Omicron surge in late 2021/early 2022 convinced several prefectures to institute restrictions on some businesses, especially bars and eateries, but those restrictions have since been lifted. What are the CDC guidelines? It is a clear message to show Hong Kong is resuming normalcy," Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee told Reuters. - Masks4All, Europe Travel: No Masks Needed In These EU Countries - Forbes, Countries That Have Removed All Internal Covid Restrictions - Travel Off Path, Some countries in Latin America end face mask rules - AA. Compared to other countries, vaccinations in Japan have been slow to roll out to the public. Masks are just one protective measure for these airline passengers arriving in Shanghai from Paris. With mask mandates going away, is that helpful. Some criticised the rule's duration and its sudden scrapping - amid wider criticism of the city's pandemic policies for the past three years. This is definitely the most welcome news to us, not only for us being in Hong Kong, living in Hong Kong but also for us running the airline, Mandy Ng, chief executive officer of low-cost carrier Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd., told Bloomberg Television. "Persons with a medical condition who cannot wear a face mask or cannot wear it safely due to the medical condition must send a medical certificate or the MEDIF form through our Contact Form at least 48 hours before the scheduled flight.". Masks are still worn in several countries in Asia. Hong Kong is ending its mask mandate Wednesday, becoming one of the world's last cities to drop rules demanding face coverings. But those measures could not contain the spread of the more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus as 2022 began. Under the new metrics, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up about three-fourths of where Americans live, are now considered to be at "low" or "medium" risk because of a reduced number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations and adequate hospital space. As of April 2022, many of these restrictions have been lifted, with masks required only in stores and on public transport. However many locals could be seen still wearing masks on Wednesday, local media reported. From tomorrow we are completely returning to normalcy, Lee said. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism. There are no comments yet. Under previous rules, the CDC primarily considered COVID-19 case counts to determine risk. As the world continues to live and adapt to the pandemic, several countries, including the Philippines, have lifted the face mask requirement. A child acting as hallway monitor watches as children move about a hallway wearing COVID-19 protective masks at Carter Traditional Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., Jan. 24, 2022. In Italy, face masks are no longer required in public places. And so for that reason, we're recommending that schools use the same guidance that we are recommending in general community settings, which is that we're recommending people where a mask in high levels of COVID-19" risk, said Dr. Greta Massetti, a senior CDC official. Thousands died, many of them seniors who had not been vaccinated. A federal judge in Hong Kong's Asian rival Singapore scrapped indoor face coverings in August, while South Korea did the same in January this year. In February, Spain became the last country in Europe to drop its airplane mask mandate, while Japan will only relax mask recommendations from March 13. Read about our approach to external linking. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. It's too premature," says Mike Toole, a founding member of Medicins sans Frontiers in Australia and an associate research fellow at Burnet Institute whose work revolves around infectious diseases and international health. 2022. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Finland is entirely free of mask-related rules. The number of destinations on the list is slowly increasing, including plenty in Europe. China's airlines have become a bit less strict than in the early days of the pandemic when in-flight announcements would urge passengers not to chitchat during the flight. Masks are Here are some countries mostly frequented by Filipinos that have eased or lifted the mandatory face mask protocol: Japan is one of the countries that controlled the spread of COVID-19 and has not seen a massive outbreak of the virus until 2021. What's he waiting for? It also got the highest ranking in COVID-19 resilience by Bloomberg. As the country continued to curb the cases in 2022, Malaysia lifted the indoor mask mandate in most public areas. South Korea is also one of the major tourist destinations of Filipinos with 450,000 Filipino visitors in 2017. Learn more. Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical virologist at the University of Hong Kong, noted that when the virus began spreading in the city in early 2020, its residents almost universally wore masks, even before they became mandatory. Dominican Republic has no rules for wearing a mask. At one stage, masks were required even when exercising. Health Secretary Chung-mau Lo said the government would recommend that people who are immunocompromised or have upper respiratory issues continue to wear masks. South Korea ended its indoor mask rule on January 30, 2023, but still recommends wearing masks, including in public transportation. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times. Japan has been one of the main travel destinations of Filipinos in the past years. Face masks must still be worn in closed spaces. Almost 70 percent of the population in the USA are in areas of low or medium risk. 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. Hong Kongs mask mandate has been in effect since July 2020. Hong Kong was one of last places on Earth to mandate mask-wearing. Although Cathay Pacific is free to enforce its own mandate, the airline has chosen to follow the lead of the Hong Kong government and lift masking rules from March 1. Your body temperature is measured when you enter an airport and again before boarding the plane. LinkedIn has officially entered its cringe era, and its working. Many countries have also implemented mask mandates in fact, more than the number of countries that have imposed vaccine mandates. The United Kingdom is home to an estimated 200,000 Filipinos. The rule increasingly jarred with Hong Kongs push to move beyond the pandemic and lure visitors. On the no-no list: Fabric or reusable masks on flights within Chile. The omicron wave, which infected a vast majority of the country, also boosted the nation's immunity from prior infection for the timebeing. And there are still some inflight announcements about infection prevention for instance, reminding passengers not to touch their face, In China and other countries you'll also need medical documents in order to fly. Most states either don't have a statewide mask (The authorities see gloves as a deterrent to infection even though the value of gloves as a pandemic measure has been debated and basically debunked). Wearing a mask both indoors and outside was mandated in Italy throughout much of the pandemic. Emirates Wants to Massively Expand its Operations in India By Adding 50,000 Seats Per Week. This year and the next year, we will focus on the economy and development.. We didnt see that major difference with transmissions. Thailand was able to keep the number of COVID-19 cases low in the early stages of the pandemic in 2020 due to its early lockdown and effective contact tracing strategy. The past three years of global isolation have weighed heavily on the citys economy and reputation. Passengers are required to wear medical surgical, KN95 or N95 masks from the time of check-in at the airport through the duration of the flight and until you leave the airport. While mask mandates and restrictions had started to relax in China in late 2021, the Omicron variant caused a resurgence in both COVID-19 cases and the addendant restrictions that accompany them in early 2022. After much criticism, the Hong Kong authorities in December last year decided to lift its contentious "amber code," which forced residents to use an app to enter any venue. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday. The US is one of the countries severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the early stages of the outbreak with a recorded 103 million cases. But Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that restrictions there would gradually lift with mask and remote work mandates easing early next month and Read more:Hong Kong's population declines for a third consecutive year; Chinese influence to be blamed, China spending billions on spreading disinformation about Ukraine war, says US special envoy, 'Hello Hong Kong' mission kicks off with half a million free air tickets on offer, Zero to 100 in under 5 minutes: Redmi unveils 300W fastest charger. Everyone can show their smiles and say, Hello, Hong Kong, he said, repeating the citys new tourism slogan. Instead of heavily relying on the number of COVID-19 cases to gauge mask effectiveness, the CDC is assessing local hospital capacity and rate of hospitalisation to formulate key measures in the USA. The new metrics will place the majority of the country in low to medium COVID-19 risk. On social media, many residents expressed elation and relief that the day of unmasking had "finally" come. As the country continued to curb the cases in 2022, Malaysia lifted the indoor mask mandate in most public areas. The rationale behind mask Before Wednesday, people living in Hong Kong had to wear a mask in any public area. But that approach didn't take into account that vaccinations are now widely available to people over age 5 and that most vaccinated people who tested positive during the omicron and delta waves experienced mostly mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization. Before the pandemic, almost 500,000 Filipino travelers visited Thailand. As of April 2022, masks are required to be worn at all times when leaving the home, mandatory testing and quarantine centers have been reopened, and many schools and non-essential businesses have been temporarily closed again. The population has fallen by a net 187,000 in the three years through 2022 as Masks will still be required in health care settings. Walensky said that a review of that requirement is ongoing and a decision will be made in the weeks ahead. Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. In the end, the government gave little more than a days notice that the mandate would be scrapped seemingly in response to a similar policy shift from the autonomous region of Macau which is also able to set various policies independently of Beijing. In a press conference Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said residents and tourists will not be required to wear masks indoors, outdoors or on public transportation for the first time in nearly three years. This website difference countries with mask mandates 2022 transmissions recommend that people who are immunocompromised or upper! 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