People have beenrequiredto wear masks in all public places, including outdoors, from July 29, 2020. Thepopulationhas fallen by a net 187,000 in the three years through 2022 as residents fled for other cities. 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. The one for schools expired on March 1. The new metrics will place the majority of the country in low to medium COVID-19 risk. 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. Evidence shows that the coronavirus is under control in Hong Kong, without major signs of rebound, Chief Executive John Lee said at a news briefing. Cloth masks were deemed no longer acceptable, and people were required to wear medical-grade masks. The government has stated it will review its rules on outdoor mask wearing after a two-week trial period, which would place the decision sometime in early May 2022, but added that indoor mask requirements would be "unavoidable for a considerable time. 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. The move comes as the government seeks to attract tourists and overseas workers to revitalize the finance hub. 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.. Hong Kong will end its mask mandate for indoors and outdoors on Wednesday, March 1 its Chief Executive John Lee said in a briefing. On Tuesday, Hong Kong recorded just 96 COVID-19 cases, according to Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection. Although Hong Kong seemed like an outlier with its far-reaching mask mandate, there are still a number of countries that require masks onboard public transport and on commercial aircraft. But for local health officials and school boards, the CDC suggests a community consider three factors: new COVID-19 hospitalizations; hospital capacity; and new COVID-19 cases. It was only a year ago that some Americans were Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a Senate hearing on the COVID-19 response, March 18, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. And because case counts remained high, the public health agency had stuck to its recommendation of indoor masking, including inside schools. Several other countries and territories in Asia have been rolling back COVID-19 restrictions as leaders look to shift to an endemic phase. In January, passenger volumes at the Norman Foster-designed airport were a third of the level four years earlier. However, government officials have explicitly stated that plans could change as new data and/or disease cases emerge. In India, for example, the Ministry of Civil Aviation set regulations as of May 2020 that all flight crew were required to be in PPE a full protective body suit, (similar to the kind medical professionals wear) with masks, gloves and face shield. In recent days, officials announced that visitors to hospitals and nursing homes would no longer have to show PCR test results, and that starting in March, students would not be required to take daily rapid antigen tests before attending school. However, masks will still be required in health care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. 2023 BBC. Gross domestic product shrank 3.5% in 2022, contracting for the third time in four years. 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According to Tourism Malaysia, 396,000 Filipino tourists visited the Southeast Asian country in 2018. MANILA, Philippines The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted all countries worldwide to impose lockdown measures and travel restrictions to avoid spreading the virus. The CDC guidance is an acknowledgement that hospitalization rates in recent weeks have fallen dramatically and that highly vaccinated communities would be able to withstand an uptick in cases without overwhelming their local hospital systems. Mall landlords Wharf Real Estate Investment Co. and New World Development Co. rose more than 1.4%. In a press conference on April 20, the director of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Carissa Etienne, noted: "The WHO's emergency committee last week declared that the COVID health pandemic still constitutes an extraordinary event that continues to adversely affect the health of populations around the world. The Japanese government has said it will ease mask-wearing guidelines on 13 March, recommending masks only on trains and buses during rush hour, or where public transportation is particularly congested. There will no longer be a need to wear a mask on Cathay Pacific flights or in its airport lounges. Coronavirus FAQ: I'm a one-way masker. While the updated guidance drops the recommendation of universal masking in schools, the CDC said it is still reviewing a federal requirement that individuals wear masks on public transportation, including on airplanes. If those risk factors climbed, putting a community at "high" risk, the CDC recommends that a community urges its residents to return to masks and step up other precautions. Hong Kong largely avoided mass outbreaks in the first two years of the pandemic by imposing tight border controls and social distancing policies, in an attempt to bring its caseload as close to zero as possible. He added that while well-fitting masks were highly effective in hospital settings, they were often removed in crowded restaurants and at home, limiting the protection they provided when community transmission was widespread. But testing isn't 100% accurate and people aren't always 100% responsible for self-testing. Anyone can read what you share. According to Tourism Malaysia, 396,000 Filipino The controls, which changed frequently and with little warning, came at a heavy cost to residents and contributed to an exodus from the city. 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And not just any mask will do. Updated: 11:07 PM EST February 25, 2022. But Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that restrictions there would gradually lift with mask and remote work mandates easing early next month and (At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. "After looking at all the data, the trends and the fact that the winter surge [of influenza] is nearing the end, in order to give people a very clear message that Hong Kong is resuming to normalcy, I think this is the right time to make the decision," Lee said. France only requires masks in health care facilities. On the no-no list: Fabric or reusable masks on flights within Chile. Offers may be subject to change without notice. South Korea is also one of the major tourist destinations of Filipinos with 450,000 Filipino visitors in 2017. Indonesia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that was greatly affected by the pandemic and had experienced surges of cases since 2020. Although there is no legal mask mandate covering the entire country of Japan, there are strong recommendations to wear a mask in public. The U.S. isn't the only country to have dropped mask requirements. Iceland Iceland was one of the first countries in 2022 to remove all their internal covid-related restrictions, as well as their entry requirements, returning to a pre-pandemic normal. Estonia has no mask rules at this time. All Rights Reserved. The population has fallen by a net 187,000 in the three years through 2022 as 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Under Cap 599I Prevention and Control of Disease (Wearing of Mask) Regulation, the government legislation that covers the mandate, residents have been Masks are Schools were closed for months on end, residents of nursing homes were denied visitors, and restaurants and bars saw their hours restricted or had to shut entirely. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. What's he waiting for? We use the largest wearing survey (n = 20 million) and obtain our estimates from regions across six Most states either don't have a statewide mask mandate in place or have announced plans to drop their mandates soon. The mandate, which went into effect in mid-July 2020, imposed a more than $600 fine to those who didn't follow mask rules. South African Airways requires that children over 5 and adults must have a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure for all international flights, and must complete a "Traveler Health Questionnaire" on arrival, asking such things as, "Did you change your seat during the trip?". Harrelson A young woman wears a KN95 mask in downtown Salt Lake City on Jan. 26, 2022. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News. Actor Woody Harrelson held nothing back during a February interview with The New York Times where he blasted mandates and COVID-19 protocols. In 2022, the country lifted the mandatory face mask and relaxed rules of wearing it in public places. According to reports, the country saw an exodus of 187,000 people in the last three years as residents escaped to safer pastures. The mask mandate for domestic U.S. flights has been lifted although it might come back. Mask requirements may be a thing of the As the world continues to live and adapt to the pandemic, several countries, including the Philippines, have lifted the face mask requirement. But even as mask mandates for public transportation are debated and sometimes dropped many global health experts support them. 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. 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. Hong Kongs mask mandate has been in effect since July 2020. While most countries across the globe opened up in a phased manner with the majority relaxing the mask mandate much earlier, Hong Kong continued to follow the line Researchers found city-level vaccine mandates to have, at most, a negligible effect on The past three years of global isolation have weighed heavily on the citys economy and reputation. Japan has been one of the main travel destinations of Filipinos in the past years. Terms & Conditions. It, however, still recommends wearing masks indoors and in crowded places. WATCH | Why Hong Kong residents are rushing to get Covid-19 vaccination? Macau, the nearby gambling hub, which like Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, ended its outdoor mask mandate on Monday. In case of refusal to use it before or during the flight, you will be reported as an unruly passenger to the respective authorities. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The rule was first enforced on July 29, 2020, and directed individuals to wear masks in all public places. It, however, still recommends wearing face masks indoors, and in public transportation, including airplanes and trains. These interventions made travel safer and possible, especially for senior citizens during the pandemic, says Toole, who is age 75. However, after China dropped several of its stringent policies in December 2022 and Hong Kong followed suit, it led to a surge of cases not seen since March 2022, according to Our World in Data, which uses data from Johns Hopkins University. 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. Although many indoor mask mandates are implemented at the city and county level, six states still have mandates in place: California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times. The population has fallen by a net 187,000 in the three years through 2022 as residents fled for other cities. Mask mandates are still in effect in a small number of places. Vietnam is cited as one of the success stories in its fight against COVID-19 and has fared better economically than many other countries. The airline is, however, aware that many Hong Kongers may feel nervous about being around unmasked passengers or crew members for long periods in these cases, the airline has asked nervous passengers not to fly until they feel comfortable around unmasked seatmates. For the most part, people have followed the government's recommendations, and many private businesses require masks for customers. Additionally, last week, the gambling hub of Macao said people will not be required to wear mask outdoors but will still be required in elderly care homes, hospitals and public transit. Masks are just one protective measure for these airline passengers arriving in Shanghai from Paris. Masking up is still a requirement with a number of airlines: Air France, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Pakistan International Airlines, South African Airways and Malaysian, to name a few. Almost 100,000 Filipino tourists arrived in Indonesia before the pandemic. People deserve choice in terms of how they are protecting themselves, and they have been doing this since the very first days of the pandemic, and they are going to continue to do that., Hong Kong, One of Worlds Last Holdouts, Ends Its Mask Mandate, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/world/asia/hong-kong-mask-mandate.html. Masks will still be required in health care settings. Global isolation meant that the tourism industry was completely wrecked and the economy of Asia's financial hub shrank by 3.5 per cent in 2022. At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The move will come into effect from March 1 and suggests that the administration is looking to restore some semblance of normalcy. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News. She reports on global health, science, and development, and her work has been published in the New York Times, The British Medical Journal, BBC, The Guardian and other outlets. Tourism numbers remain low. It also got the highest ranking in COVID-19 resilience by Bloomberg. After long 959 days or three years, the city of Hong Kong has finally bid adieu to the controversial COVID-19 mask mandate that was brought in to prevent the spread of the virus. Mask rules are changing yet again, this time on public transit. 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. Switzerland removed its indoor mask mandate on February 17, 2022. Learn how your comment data is processed. The same thing has happened in some countries in Latin America: Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, for example. DeSantis won't say he's running. Mask mandates stretching for years on end are going to run out of steam in terms of how effective they are, Dr. Sridhar said. A mask can be the cheapest, simplest tool to protect you from infections in these situations.". Most previous work focused on mask mandates; we study the effect of mask wearing directly. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Other Covid curbs in Hong Kong included strict quarantine rules, limitations on the number of people gathering in public places, as well as restricting visitors in nursing homes. In addition to masks, passengers are asked to bring their own gloves as an optional additional precautionary measure. Checking with any international carrier before heading to the airport is still critical, says Wu. BY Tristan Bove. However, masks must be worn at indoor places and public transport, where a vaccination pass is not needed. A federal judge in Which other countries have lifted the mask mandate? 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. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News. The Hang Seng Tech index meanwhile, fell 1.42%. While most countries across the globe opened up in a phased manner with the majority relaxing the mask mandate much earlier, Hong Kong continued to follow the line set by Beijing. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. The Hang Seng index fell 0.69% as Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee announced to drop its mask mandate starting March 1. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The mandate, which went into effect in mid-July 2020, imposed a more than $600 fine to those who didn't follow mask rules. "After looking at all the data, the trends The new recommendations are a major change in how the federal government is approaching pandemic guidance. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. "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.". For impactful stories you just cant miss, By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy. The mandate, which went into effect in mid-July 2020, imposed a more than $600 fine to those who didn't follow mask rules. Denmark became the first European country to lift the mask mandate. Emirates Wants to Massively Expand its Operations in India By Adding 50,000 Seats Per Week. Government 's recommendations, and many private businesses require masks for customers agency had stuck its... 17, 2022 in all public places, including airplanes and trains greatly affected by the pandemic had... 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