(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong will relax some Covid-19 testing requirements for incoming passengers as the city takes small steps toward easing travel restrictions.

While travelers still need a nucleic acid test withing 48 hours of the scheduled departure of their flight to the financial hub, they will no longer have to give documentary proof of lab accreditation, the Hong Kong government said in a statement Sunday. The city will also drop requirements for transit passengers to have a pre-flight polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid test.

The changes will take effect from June 1, it said.

The government also announced an easing of the flight-suspension mechanism for airlines that carry Covid-positive travelers. From June 1, airlines that trigger the mechanism over a 10-day period will receive a warning and a HK$20,000 ($2,548) penalty. If the carrier again breaches the terms within 10 days it will be prohibited from flying that route into Hong Kong for five days.

 

 

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