Tripperhead's Wallaby Wednesday January 4th, 2023

By Aaron Busch

I’m back from Australia, fully refreshed for a gripping season 4 of “2020”! And it’s already started with a bang (and by bang I mean lots of pre-flight testing rules).

Chile and Ghana were added to the Departure Guide today, both with new rules for arrivals from China, but not specifying if that includes Hong Kong. If you know, drop me a message or comment!

Meanwhile the Thailand Health Minister brought the sass to a press conference, saying they’re not adding any rules for Chinese travellers, as unlike other countries, they have the COVID situation under control.

And it sounds like the Hong Kong-Fernando’s… I mean Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal will re-open this Sunday.

All this and the rest of today’s news 👇

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1. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’ve created a departure guide listing the current rules for leaving Hong Kong travelling to various countries. If it’s not on the list, then either it’s a new rule I don’t know about, or there are no rules.

   Aaron Busch @tripperhead

   Departure Guide January 4th update #1: Added Chile and Ghana. h/t @b3108

   

   tripperhead.substack.comTripperhead’s Somewhat Helpful Guide to: Departing Hong KongBy Aaron Busch

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   2. Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnveerakul throws shade on countries introducing new measures for Chinese travellers.

   Aaron Busch @tripperhead

   ⚠️🇨🇳🛬🇹🇭 Thailand's Public Health Minister says there's no need to add special arrival rules for Chinese travellers. "We shouldn’t compare Thailand to other countries with less capabilities to handle COVID-19."

   

   Khaosod English @KhaosodEnglish

   Public Health Minister Anutin Charnveerakul said on Tuesday there will be no special screening of Chinese tourists entering Thailand, adding we shouldn’t compare Thailand to other countries with less capabilities to handle COVID-19. #Thailand #China #KE #COVID19 #tourism https://t.co/Oacb6UBc6k

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   3. Over in South Korea where they are randomly testing Chinese arrivals at the airport, one tourist wasn’t interested in the 7 days hotel quarantine offered, and ran off.

   Aaron Busch @tripperhead

   🇨🇳🛬🇰🇷 January 3rd: Chinese national in his 40s tests positive for COVID-19 on arrival at Incheon International Airport, is assigned to a quarantine hotel, runs away. Korean police are still searching for the man. Hotel quarantine in 🇰🇷 is 7 days. yna.co.kr/view/AKR202301…

   

   yna.co.kr인천공항 온 중국인, 확진 후 호텔 격리 피해 ‘줄행랑’(종합2보) | 연합뉴스(인천·서울=연합뉴스) 손현규 고미혜 기자 = 인천국제공항으로 입국한 40대 중국인이 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 확진 후 호텔 격리...

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   4. PWC have crunched the numbers and reckon the HK Govt budget deficit this year will be $109 billion.

   Aaron Busch @tripperhead

   ⚠️🇭🇰💵 The guessing game of "how big will the Hong Kong budget deficit be this year?" continues, with PriceWaterhouseCoopers putting the figure at $109 billion. Govt reserves at $848.1 billion, roughly 12 months of expenditure. news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/compon…

   

   news.rthk.hk羅兵咸永道料香港本年度赤字1090億元 - RTHK會計師事務所羅兵咸永道預料，政府本財年將錄得1090億港元的財政赤字，是近10年來第2高，亦較政府原先估計多出近94%；去年度錄得盈餘294億元。 該行預測，本年度整體收入6810億元，支出為7900億元。其中，利得稅及薪俸稅收入預料約2348億元，低於政府預期，受環球經濟不景氣、加息等影響。印花稅...