【明報專訊】Hong Kong is to lift its flight bans on nine countries including the UK and the US tomorrow (1 April). For Hong Kong residents or holders of a work visa who are fully vaccinated, the quarantine period upon entry will also be shortened to 7 days. The SAR government has stressed that the new measure is aimed at ''straightening out'' the arrangements for Hongkongers to return to Hong Kong and is not a relaxation of preventive measures against imported cases. Yet, foreign investors and the industrial and commercial sectors have quite a different view, i.e. this is the first step for Hong Kong to reopen its borders to the outside world. Data from travel websites also shows a spike in the search volume for flights departing from the city, showing that many Hongkongers are planning to take advantage of the shortened quarantine period to travel abroad.