Mainland authorities have announced a loosening of Covid restrictions, including allowing patients with mild symptoms to isolate at home. The adjusted measures were announced after a high-level meeting of the Communist Party decided that the nation should optimise epidemic prevention and control measures next year to better coordinate policies with economic and social development. Wendy Wong reports:

A doctor who ran the infection-control programme for an expatriate hospital in Beijing during the SARS epidemic nearly two decades ago says she expects a surge in Covid cases on the mainland after the latest round of easing. Dr Sarah Borwein told Joanne Wong that mainland officials would have to be ready to deal with a jump in severe infections:

Executive Councillor Jeffrey Lam has welcomed the easing of Covid rules on the mainland. He is hopeful that Hong Kong may be able to resume quarantine-free travel with the mainland if the Covid situation here stabilises. Lam told Kelly Yu that he hoped officials could negotiate doubling the daily quota for crossing the border to 2,000, before discussing the full resumption of cross-border travel:

The government says people who wish to get a fifth dose of a Covid vaccine can make an appointment from Friday next week. It comes as the daily Covid caseload here hit its highest level since late March. Joanne Wong reports:

The government has proposed doubling the fine for littering to $3,000 as part of efforts to clean up the city. This will cover spitting and putting posters up without permission while it has been suggested the fine for dumping construction waste would be raised four-fold. Damon Pang reports:

The DAB party has urged the government to consider a progressive fixed penalty for littering. Its lawmaker, Vincent Cheng, says the $1,500 fine will be a lot to pay for poorer members of society, especially for inadvertently throwing something away. But he told Ada Au that he welcomed the move to boost the fine for shops that use the space in front of their premises illegally to $6,000:

Some vendors say the proposal to increase the fine for illegal shop extensions is too much to bear. They say it would add to their hardship under an already-difficult business environment. Leung Pak-hei reports:

The government says ditching the need for impact assessment reports for development projects of fewer than 50 hectares will not create loopholes when it comes to environmental protection. Currently, projects covering more than 20 hectares require an Environmental Impact Assessment report, but the administration wants to change this to 50 hectares. Maggie Ho reports:

Transport-sector lawmaker Frankie Yick says the government needs a long-term logistics policy so the industry can develop. He says logistics companies using brownfield sites need support to relocate, if their land is to be taken back by the government. He told Ada Au that relocation support was more important than financial compensation to site operators:

Researchers from Polytechnic University say they have invented a new type of lens for spectacles that can slow down the progression of myopia - or shortsightedness - in youngsters. As Violet Wong reports, the team says it works better than contact lenses among those aged between six and 18:

An optometry professor says new glasses his university has developed to delay myopia among youngsters will be available in Hong Kong in the first quarter of next year. Professor To Chi-ho from Polytechnic University says the lenses look like normal glasses, and will be targeted mostly at youngsters, although he hopes one day adults can use the same technology. He told Samantha Butler how the glasses work to delay myopia:

Ocean Park has posted a sharp increase in its deficit, due mainly to one-off impairment losses. Maggie Ho reports: