Hong Kong to scrap isolation rule for new Covid-19 cases

Shoppers purchase orchids at a Lunar New Year flower market in the Causeway Bay district in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. [AP Photo]

Hong Kong will scrap its mandatory isolation rule for people infected with Covid-19 from Jan. 30 as part of its strategy to return the southern Chinese city to normalcy, the city's leader said on Thursday.

For most of the pandemic over the last three years, Hong Kong has aligned itself with China's "zero-Covid" strategy, requiring those who tested positive to undergo quarantine. Many residents once had to be sent to hospitals or government-run quarantine facilities even when their symptoms were mild.