HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan has tested positive for COVID-19 on a layover in Saudi Arabia and will remain there “for a short time” to meet fitness requirements, the city government said on Thursday.
Chan is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at a foreign banking convention in Hong Kong on Wednesday next week, the city’s highest-profile event since the COVID pandemic began, which authorities expect to sign off on its reopening after more than two years. Border restrictions .
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Chan was due to finish his stopover in Saudi Arabia and return to Hong Kong on Thursday, but tested positive before returning home.
“He has cancelled the remaining parts of the tour and will remain in Riyadh for a short time, and will try to meet the applicable physical needs and return to Hong Kong as soon as possible,” the city said.
The city government mentioned Chan’s participation in next week’s Global Investment Summit of Financial Leaders, which will feature executives from some of the world’s largest banks and asset managers.
The banking convention will be followed by the rugthrough sevens tournament from November 4 to 6, which will return to the town for the first time since 2019.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive David Solomon, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Jane Fraser, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman and BlackRock Inc. Chairman Rob Kapito will be speakers at the conference, said its organizer, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
Hong Kong’s relentless COVID restrictions have strained its economy and are positioning itself as a monetary hub while the rest of the world lives with the virus and rival hubs like Singapore, London and New York do business normally.
Hong Kong has lifted the mandatory hotel quarantine, but foreign arrivals still enter some places, such as bars and restaurants, during the first 3 days of their visit.
Participants in the overseas banking event will be required to take a COVID test before starting their Hong Kong holiday, upon arrival and the three-day medical surveillance period, the HKMA said.
However, they will be to have food with others in personal rooms and stopovers in some places.
“If they test positive, a guest may decide to move from charter or self-isolation until safe, from a public health perspective, for the isolation agreement to be lifted,” HKMA said. (Reporting via Farah Master; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel)
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