HK officials to quarantine ahead of Xi handover anniversary visit

Trip by Chinese leader will be first outside mainland since pandemic began

Medical workers help Hong Kong residents get tested at a COVID-19 screening center in March. The city was hit by its worst outbreak of the pandemic earlier this year. © AP

PAK YIU and FRANCES CHEUNG, Nikkei staff writers

June 20, 2022 15:00 JST

HONG KONG -- Dozens of Hong Kong lawmakers will be required to take daily COVID-19 tests and quarantine ahead of an expected visit next week by Xi Jinping for the 25th anniversary of the city's handover to Beijing.

The trip by the Chinese leader would mark his first outside the mainland in more than two years as he has presided over a signature zero-COVID strategy aimed at quashing virus outbreaks with mass lockdowns, testing and quarantines.