Hong Kong may need to step up infection-control measures at its international airport, including reviewing quarantine exemption arrangements for aircrew, mainland Chinese experts inspecting the city’s Covid-19 containment efforts have suggested.

Sources revealed on Monday that while the delegation urged local officials to bolster efforts to shut out imported cases, it was mostly satisfied with the city’s overall strategy to keep the virus in check and create conditions to allow the border to reopen.

“The mainland experts have made suggestions about some procedures which they think could be improved, especially those related to the airport because it is a key gateway to prevent imported cases from becoming local community infections,” a mainland official source with knowledge of the visit said. “As for the whole inspection, so far so good.”

The delegation comprises representatives of the National Health Commission, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and health experts from Guangdong province.

The experts’ first visit was to the airport, where they spent nearly three hours, the longest stop so far of their four-day tour.

The delegation urged Hong Kong authorities to do “everything possible” to block imported cases, as such infections could “potentially destroy the mainland’s and Hong Kong’s domestic control efforts overnight”, the insider said.

The team warned that the current policy of exempting aircrew members from quarantine “might need further review” after three former Cathay Pacific pilots arriving from Germany were confirmed as infected, according to the source.

The pilots, who admitted to leaving their hotel rooms in Frankfurt and were sacked as a result, had through their actions forced some 150 Cathay staff into isolation and prompted Hong Kong authorities to tighten monitoring of aircrew throughout the first week of arrival.

The Transport and Housing Bureau also asked airlines to step up supervision of staff, including tasking employees overseas with ensuring crew members complied with pandemic-prevention measures.

But the mainland experts were satisfied with how officials were segregating passengers arriving on international flights and those coming in from across the border, a measure which began on Monday last week, the insider said.

The delegation also reminded handlers of cargo and frozen food to fully follow disinfection protocols, but again largely approved of the measures in place, according to the source.

“Whether the border will reopen as planned early next month will depend on what they find in these two days,” the source said.

The experts split into two groups on Monday, with one side meeting innovation and technology officials to discuss the city’s contact-tracing initiatives and recent upgrades to the “Leave Home Safe” app, according to another source.

The other group inspected the Dorsett Wanchai, one of 36 hotels designated for quarantining arrivals, and the Covid-19 testing facilities at the Henry G Leong Yaumatei community centre in Kowloon.

In the afternoon, the group visited a laboratory run by BGI, a leading Chinese genetics company, as well as the city’s cargo terminal, according to sources. Experts also visited Tin Shui Wai Hospital in the northern New Territories.

The Post earlier reported that residents would be allowed to enter the mainland without undergoing quarantine starting from early December. Movement of travellers will at first be limited to Guangdong province, with Shenzhen as the only entry point. The scheme will later be expanded to the rest of the country.

“But there is no final decision yet. The group will have a debriefing with relevant Hong Kong authorities at the end of their trip on Tuesday and report … their findings and conclusions later to finalise decisions,” the mainland source said.

The other insider close to the delegation said the West Kowloon checkpoint could potentially be the first to reopen to passenger travel.

Recent upgrades to the city’s “Leave Home Safe” app was discussed by local tech officials and a delegation from mainland China on Monday.

The developments on cross-border talks came as the city on Monday confirmed three new Covid-19 cases, all imported, while fewer than 10 people tested preliminary-positive. The city’s tally stood at 12,404 infections, with 213 related deaths.

Hong Kong last week expanded its vaccination drive by allowing children as young as three to have access to the Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus jab, with priority given to those aged 12 to 17.

Apart from making appointments from December 2 at community vaccination centres, parents with children in this age group can also call any of the five student health service centres under the Department of Health from November 26 to book slots.

Special appointments for schools will also be arranged at community vaccination centres along with transport, and the Education Bureau will deliver letters to principals explaining the process this week.

Ahead of the border reopening, the nation’s official railway app resumed carrying schedules for trains to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chongqing, but no bookings can be made yet.

Train services to Beijing remain suspended under the capital’s tightened pandemic-control measures.

Hong Kong Federation of Railway Trade Unions chairman Lam Wai-keung said the union had yet to receive any internal notice regarding the resumption of train services at West Kowloon.

“It makes sense to start with the West Kowloon checkpoint, which is more controllable in terms of crowd and public health management than other checkpoints,” he said.

The West Kowloon terminus has been closed since January 30, 2020, but Lam said mainland customs officials continued to cross the border by train and work at the station on a daily basis.