From Friday, people arriving in Hong Kong will have to spend just three days in hotel quarantine. The much-anticipated announcement was made by the Chief Executive John Lee, although he stressed it did not mean Hong Kong was giving up the battle against Covid-19. Wendy Wong reports:

The government has clarified the rules for people currently in quarantine, saying those who have spent at least three nights in a designated facility will be allowed to leave from Tuesday. They will need to complete four days of medical surveillance, and remain Covid free, before all restrictions are lifted. New measures are also being put in place to streamline arrival procedures at Hong Kong airport. Robert Kemp reports:

The government says travellers due to arrive in Hong Kong will be refunded the extra days in designated quarantine hotels that they have paid for, when their stay is cut on Friday. They have also been told they do not need to make changes to their hotel bookings, and that they can use the same booking confirmations to go through immigration control, as Priscilla Ng reports:

Infectious diseases expert, Leung Chi-chiu, has welcomed the government's halving of hotel quarantine to three days, saying it is safe, as incoming travellers would have already tested negative at the airport. But Leung told Kelly Yu that travellers should be barred from high-risk premises during their following four days of medical surveillance, to prevent large outbreaks:

A tourism professor has hailed the halving of hotel quarantine as a turning point for the travel industry. Professor Haiyan Song, from the Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management, told Kelly Yu that he expected a surge in visitors from Europe and North America under the new quarantine rules:

The executive director of the Travel Industry Council, Fanny Yeung, says while the change is welcome, she thinks tourists will still prefer to go to places that do not require quarantine. She told Damon Pang that her industry wanted quarantine-free travel:

The vice-chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, George Cautherly, says he is optimistic that the government will continue to further scale back anti-Covid measures. Cautherly says the John Lee administration appears to be more keen to welcome back international business travellers. But he told Samantha Butler that many overseas corporations would still steer clear of Hong Kong until mandatory quarantine was scrapped entirely, even if Monday's announcement was a step in the right direction:

The Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association has welcomed the halving of hotel quarantine as a step forward. But vice chair, Wendy Lai, told Joanne Wong that she did not expect it to give her industry much of a boost:

Health authorities have warned they are seeing more cases of Covid-connected Croup - a potentially life-threatening infection of the upper airway that affects mostly young children. It comes as authorities reported 3,807 new local Covid infections on Monday and 233 imported cases. Mike Weeks reports:

A representative of the restaurant trade says business rose by around 15 percent on Sunday as a new round of electronic spending vouchers were handed out. Some 6.2 million people received $2,000 from the government to boost Hong Kong's economy, with a further $3,000 to be handed out later in the year. Damon Pang reports:

Officials have brushed aside suggestions to rethink a plan to build public housing on part of the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, saying the proposed Northern Metropolis development will not be sufficient to solve the shortage of homes in the SAR. But as Violet Wong reports, an environmental impact assessment of the Fanling plan says just over a quarter of the land the government wants to take back is suitable for development:

The government has rejected a call to waive the planned hike in public housing rents for two years, citing factors such as the financial health of the Housing Authority. It says measures are already in place to help tenants with financial difficulties. Joanne Wong reports:

Hong Kong Unison is launching a set of audio guides for people to roam around the city and learn more about the history, religions, contributions and daily lives of its ethnic minorities. The concern group has also launched a fundraising campaign for the “Diverse.City” project. The audio guides, available on a new mobile app, are narrated by celebrities and young people from ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong. There are three routes covering Tsim Sha Tsui, Happy Valley, and Central. Hong Kong Unison’s executive director, John Tse, told Vicky Wong how the app works: