Confusions arose on Thursday over whether Hong Kong cross-border truck drivers were still exempted from compulsory quarantine in mainland China after the city’s transport chief said Guangdong provincial authorities had agreed to ease some Covid-19 restrictions.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan told lawmakers on Thursday that Guangdong had a day earlier reduced the entry ban on truck drivers who lived in areas with Covid-19 cases from 21 to 14 days.

Chan said truck drivers of vegetables or other fresh food items would be exempted from the 21-day quarantine requirement if they tested negative for the coronavirus on the mainland, even if their residential buildings or estates recorded infections.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan.

However, Hong Kong Land Transport Council chairman Stanley Chiang Chi-wai revealed on Thursday that some drivers who lived in districts without any infections were still banned from entering Shenzhen and the duration of the ban remained unknown.

“There is confusion,” he said. “Previously, officials would be clearer [in their instructions]. Now whenever they want to ban a driver, they will just do it.”

Earlier this month, Shenzhen authorities stopped exempting the city’s cross-border truck drivers from quarantine upon arrival to avoid the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

There are about 8,000 cross-border drivers in total, but 66 of them have been infected and hundreds deemed close contacts have been sent to confinement since February 4. Hong Kong has repeatedly broken daily infection records in the past week, confirming 6,116 cases on Thursday with 259 related deaths.

A 61-year-old driver, who declined to be named, told the Post that he was not allowed to enter Shenzhen even though the place he lived in did not have any infections.

“I was not told how long I have to be barred for, [but] I won’t have any income for a while,” he said. “I can only wait [for industry unions to sort this out] so I can resume work.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged the Hong Kong government to shoulder the main responsibility for containing the outbreak as soon as possible.

Ensuring a stable food supply, including vegetables, is among the priorities.

A plan to transport mainland-grown vegetables by sea to Hong Kong is expected to begin on Monday, according to Wu Haibo, the CEO of Shenzhen-based Shen Chuang Jian Supply Chain logistics firm.

Residents shop at a market in Kowloon City. Legislator Frankie Yick says vegetables will be among the goods to be transported by sea from the mainland.

Frankie Yick Chi-ming, legislator for the transport sector, said the government would begin a trial operation on Friday with the aim of stabilising the fresh food supply in the city.

He said the fresh goods would be transported by sea from Panyu Port in Guangzhou to Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter in Hong Kong.

“If the test works well, the government will consider expanding the operation to more places from next week, such as Shenzhen,” he added.

Yick said the goods to be shipped over would include vegetables, meat and daily necessities and estimated a ship could transport about 90 to 120 containers at a time.

A government spokesman said on Thursday the supply of vegetables from the mainland increased by about 10 per cent while stock of other fresh food items was expected to remain stable.

As of midnight on Wednesday, 738 tonnes of mainland-grown vegetables, about 80 per cent of the original import volume, had been transported to Hong Kong.

The spokesman also said wholesale prices of vegetables had gone down slightly.

Hong Kong Vegetable Union vice-president Oscar Chan Nga-leung estimated that about 70 per cent of the original transport capacity for vegetables could be met under the new arrangement.

“This is not a commercial activity but a method to stabilise people’s livelihood in Hong Kong,” he said.