Hong Kong — one of the last holdouts in the world for legally mandated masking, indoors and outside or on public transportation — is dropping the last of its coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday.
Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday announced the scrapping of the mask mandate as the pandemic “has been largely contained” with “no major spike in the number of cases so far.” High-risk locations such as hospitals or homes for the elderly could still require visitors to keep masks on, he added.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong tried to lure tourists back to the city with a giveaway of a half-million plane tickets.
In January, there was much celebration when the border between Hong Kong and mainland China reopened, allowing families and couples to reunite after years of separation — albeit, at the time, while fully masked.
