A young passenger walks past the departure area at the international airport in Hong Kong on Nov 17, 2018. (MIKE CLARKE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday that the Hong Kong, Macao special administrative region governments and the Guangdong provincial government are looking into the possibility of exempting cross-border travelers who test negative for COVID-19 from the currently mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said such an arrangement would be possible on the basis of mutual recognition of each others’ COVID-19 test reports.

Lam said such an arrangement would be possible on the basis of mutual recognition of each others’ COVID-19 test reports

Lam said the governments were considering waiver of mandatory quarantine requirement for lawyers, innovation and technology professionals, medical professionals, and cross-border students.

The initiative is aimed at resuming economic activities that are crucial to the city’s development and people’s livelihood, Lam said, adding that the Hong Kong government would announce a decision as soon as possible.

The government’s mandatory quarantine arrangement for all arrivals from Chinese mainland, Macao, Taiwan and overseas will expire on June 7. 

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Lam's Tuesday’s statement follows her recent interview with a local newspaper published on Monday in which she said that Hong Kong is discussing with Guangdong province and Macao SAR the possibility of mutual easing of mandatory quarantine restrictions, hoping it will soon be put into practice.

The HKSAR government announced last month the extension of mandatory quarantine for all inbound travelers from the mainland to June 7 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lam said in the interview that she hoped a plan can be drawn up as soon as possible to allow people from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao who meet specific cross-border purposes and have passed the novel coronavirus test to be exempted from the quarantine measure.

Since Feb 8, the department of health of the HKSAR government has issued more than 100,000 mandatory quarantine orders to mainland visitors to Hong Kong, and so far, none of them has turned out to be confirmed cases of COVID-19

Lam said in the interview that the HKSAR government has always adhered to three major principles, including speedy response, full preparedness, and openness and transparency in its anti-epidemic work. However, some people have adopted a double standard and tried to use the epidemic issue to realize political demands.

The HKSAR government "presents facts, makes sense and emphasizes science" when dealing with public health issues, she said, adding one should not introduce political issues to affect the handling of public health issues.

Since January, some opposition politicians have repeatedly insisted that people from the mainland should be banned from entering Hong Kong to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Lam said, since Feb 8, the department of health of the HKSAR government has issued more than 100,000 mandatory quarantine orders to mainland visitors to Hong Kong, and so far, none of them has turned out to be confirmed cases of COVID-19.

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On the other hand, from March 18, the department of health has issued about 70,000 mandatory quarantine orders to foreign arrivals, and so far, more than 400 of them have been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.

"If we want to evaluate the epidemic prevention and control in the mainland and in some other countries, these two sets of figures are of reference value," she said in the interview to a local newspaper.