Cross border flow ebbs, but quarantine effect hazy

Very few people were entering Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Bay Port from Saturday. Photo: RTHK

Cross border traffic into Hong Kong slowed down to trickle on Saturday as the new self quarantine orders kicked in, but people who arrived from the mainland were relying on public transport to get home, putting into doubt the effectiveness of the preventive measure.



As per the rule, people entering Hong Kong from the mainland have to confine themselves to their home or hotel within two hours.



But some people who entered the city on Saturday complained this was impractical as their homes were far away from the border.



RTHK tracked one woman's journey to her home after she arrived from the mainland on Saturday.



She took a bus from the Shenzhen Bay Port to Tuen Mun, from where she took the MTR, changing two lines, before reaching Lok Fu. Then she walked to her home in Wong Tai Sin.



The whole journey, from the border to her home, took more than two hours and was done almost entirely on public transport.



Another woman surnamed Song, who arrived from the mainland said she understands the quarantine measure.



"We will quarantine ourselves, because this is for the public good," she added. Song said she and her family were on a 20-day holiday on the mainland.



The Immigration Department said that a total of 95,982 people entered the city on Friday, an increase of 13,965 from the previous day. Of the arrivals, 13 percent were mainland visitors and most entered Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Bay Port.



Around 58,000 left the city for mainland on Friday and 80 percent of them were Hongkongers.



Chief Executive Carrie Lam inspected the Shenzhen Bay Port around 1pm and stayed there for about ten minutes. (Additional reporting by AFP)