I don't know how the rules are written, but US citizens coming from China can still enter HK if they wish to quarantine (without the special permission being given to select business people) and perhaps this would apply to other nationalities. From the US Consulate in HK:

Are U.S. citizens permitted to enter? Yes, if they fall into one of the categories listed below.

• U.S. citizens with Hong Kong residency, diplomats, and U.S. citizens who have been present in mainland China, Macau, Australia or New Zealand uninterruptedly for the past 14 days are permitted to enter Hong Kong.

COVID-19 Information | U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau (usconsulate.gov)

But I don't think anything will change until quarantine rules are relaxed.

Foreign citizens were always allowed to enter HK (as per normal visa rules) since the beginning of the pandemic if they only stayed in mainland China, Macao SAR (and previously Taiwan) as long as they home quarantine.

Yes, that is what I was thinking. The real issue is anyone starting from outside the permitted areas will have multiple quarantines to go through, provided they can first enter one of the permitted areas (Australia, NZ, Mainland and Macau).

Shorter quarantine for vaccinated travelers who pass an airport antibody test is off the agenda for now, says SCMP.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...gtype=homepage

Vaccination centers full.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...-bookings-soar

4 to 1 demand for Pfizer over Sinovac.

But pace is for 70% with at least one shot by October.

Seems it should be faster.

Incredibly frustrating. It's as if we're in this groundhog day of one step forward and two steps back.

It is a delay of two more weeks for the implementation as there are issue of taking the blood sample and the logistics of getting it from HKIA to the lab in HK traffic and weather.

So you think that once the airport lab is set in August sometime, entry of fully-vaccinated non-residents from at least some countries will be back on track for later implementation? Is the Chinese press reporting this?

With no timeframe provided, it sure is. As it has been for the past 18 months.
When we see what happened to the sad attempts at travel bubbles, with all their logistics and press coverage, don't hold your breath for something that was vaguely announced without any specifics.

It certainly is on track. It's probably going to be for a long time.

Well, after seeming to shut the door on the plan to allow vaccinated non-residents to enter Hong Kong a couple weeks ago, the CE re-opened it today. The plan will apparently apply to non-residents coming from medium- and low-risk countries under a new tiering system, details of which weren't announced.

We will of course have to wait for the full details and timing. And hope this doesn't turn out to be another always-delayed Singapore Travel Bubble.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...sses-expected?

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/ea...fection-record

The Straits Times seem even more optimistic in its description. Anyone heard of a timeframe though ?

Government press release of CE announcement:
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/...uNA6MwstFG-nAo

There it is in black-and-white with all the details: starting Monday August 9, vaccinated nonresidents coming from the new B group of countries will be able to enter HK on the same basis as residents. The new group B apparently will include the US and other countries in the current high- and medium-risk groups. At least until they start shifting countries around down the road.

There's a 14-day quarantine and no provision for shortening it to 7 days based on a positive antibody test at the airport. Is this temporary and simply because the airport testing facility won't be operational by next Monday?

As per the wording of the ORIGINAL government announcement June 24 regarding this 7 days quarantine antibody test:
"Only tests from approved HK labs in the proper format accepted"
"There is a plan to set up HKIA arrival antibody sample collection for sometime in July"
Updated from July 24:
"There is a delay in the implementation of a further 2 weeks"

Yes, I just thought it odd the latest announcement didn't say anything about airport testing.

It's also a bit confusing whether only vaccination records from WHO "stringent authority" countries will be accepted. The announcement specifically mentions this requirement only in connection with vaccinated residents coming from the new high-risk A group of countries.

Edit: Here's the Government chart of the new rules. Looking at the footnotes it appears the "stringent authority" rule does only apply to those coming from new Group A countries.

https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/2021...82.pdf?noembed