As Hong Kong braces for more draconian Covid-19 travel restrictions from Friday, the Australian actor Nicole Kidman has received an exemption from the government to skip quarantine, media reported.
The exemption was given to allow her to film an Amazon television series called The Expats, the news website HK01 reported, a move that contrasts sharply with the mandatory hotel quarantine of up to three weeks that residents must undergo after entering the Chinese-ruled territory.
The 54-year-old Hollywood star was spotted shopping and filming in the former British colony days after arriving from Sydney last week, according to HK01.
Without naming Kidman, the Hong Kong government responded on Thursday afternoon to “inquiries on the quarantine exemption of overseas film personnel undertaking location filming in Hong Kong.
“[T]he 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 statement added such exemptions must still comply with anti-pandemic measures and other conditions to minimise contact with the public and risks of transmission, including vaccinations, designated accommodation, private transport, predetermined work itineraries such as costume fittings and rehearsals, and Covid tests. It said no breach by “the personnel concerned” had been identified.
Australia is battling an outbreak of the fast-moving Delta strain and reported its biggest one-day rise in Covid infections on Thursday.
Hong Kong has some of the most stringent coronavirus entry requirements globally, with arrivals from countries considered “high risk” facing compulsory quarantine for 21 days in a designated quarantine hotel, even those who are vaccinated.
The measures have led to many residents not being able to visit relatives and travel overseas for nearly two years, prompting an online backlash over Kidman’s exemption.
“So we have HK residents who can’t come back if not vaccinated (and even then with 2-3 weeks quarantine) but Nicole Kidman can just enter like this? It’s disgusting!” said a Twitter user called @WhovianBooknerd.
The production itself had already attracted ire online, criticised as “tone deaf” for making a series about wealthy expats in a city that has been wracked by protests and draconian government crackdowns for the past two years. Tens of thousands of residents have fled overseas, including to the UK, Taiwan, Australia, the US and Canada, as Beijing asserts control over the city and its previous freedoms of political expression.
The Hong Kong government this week said it was upgrading 15 areas, including the US, Spain and France, from “medium risk” to “high risk”, which means only vaccinated Hong Kong residents are allowed to enter and must undergo a 21-day hotel quarantine on arrival.
The measures have sparked chaos for travellers, who are desperately trying to rebook hotel quarantine and flights with limited supply available.
Australia has been reclassified to “medium risk” from “low risk” from 20 August, meaning vaccinated arrivals must quarantine for 14 nights.
In 2020, Kidman and her husband, the singer Keith Urban, were reportedly allowed to quarantine at their own residence in Australia, bypassing the mandatory hotel system other arrivals were – and still are – sent to at their own cost.
Reuters contributed to this report
