Explained: Why Hong Kong govt exempted Nicole Kidman from COVID quarantine mandate for shooting in the city

Hong Kong’s government said Thursday that it has granted a quarantine exemption to an individual to perform “designated professional work” following reports that Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman did not have to spend time in quarantine when she arrived in the city to film a TV series. The Chinese financial hub maintains some of the strictest quarantine measures in the world, an approach that has kept virus cases low but left most residents cut off from overseas loved ones for the last 18 months. Arrivals from high-risk countries have to stay in hotel quarantine for 21 days, while lower-risk countries have seven days hotel quarantine followed by a further seven days of self-monitoring. But Kidman, 54, has been allowed to circumvent those rules. A necessity to maintain the pace of Hong Kong’s economy  “The case in discussion has been granted permission to travel to Hong Kong with a quarantine exemption for the purpose of performing designated professional work, taking into account that it is conducive to maintaining the necessary operation and development of Hong Kong’s economy,” the government said in a statement, without identifying Kidman by name. It said people granted such exemptions must comply with disease prevention measures to minimise transmission risks and contact with the public. Is Kidman filming a series in Hong Kong? Kidman, who reportedly flew into Hong Kong from virus-hit Sydney, Australia, was spotted out and about in the city this week. She is here to film a new Amazon Prime Video series called Expats. The city’s tabloids have closely followed Kidman’s appearances in Hong Kong since touching down last Thursday in a private jet from Australia, including shopping two days after her arrival and later filming in the city’s Sai Wan district. How is social media reacting to Kidman’s exemption? Social media has since filled with comments by expats and local Hong Kongers over Kidman’s quarantine exemption – and the decision to film a series about the city’s wealthy foreign elite at a time when China is purging dissent in the financial hub. “Right then, that’s it. My Mum is changing her name to ‘Nicole Kidman’ and I’ve just sent my Gulfstream G650 to pick her up,” @webbhk, an account popular with expats, wrote on Twitter. “I’m going to make a movie about her visit to HK. It’s called, imaginatively, ‘My Mum Visits Hong Kong’,” the account added. A popular support group on Facebook for people quarantining in Hong Kong also filled with angry comments about how many local and foreign residents have been unable to see relatives overseas for nearly two years because of the rules. Elizabeth Quat, a pro-Beijing lawmaker, said she had “concerns over the quarantine exemption granted by the government to actress Nicole Kidman” and that she had “received quite a number of complaints from Hong Kong residents”. Quat added that she had asked health officials to address a legislature committee on the issue on Friday. Hong Kong’s rigid entry restrictions Her quarantine exemption comes as Hong Kong tightened entry restrictions, requiring those arriving from high-risk countries such as the US to spend 21 days in quarantine and fully vaccinated travellers from medium-risk countries to spend 14 days starting Friday. The city previously allowed travellers from medium-risk countries to stay just seven days in quarantine at designated hotels if they are fully vaccinated and had a positive antibodies test. (With inputs from agencies)