As the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic that gripped Hong Kong earlier in the year subsides, the US State Department has issued a statement ending its travel warning to the territory, and announced that it is allowing the return of government employees to the city.
The State department ordered all non-essential governmental staff to leave the city when it issued its travel warning on April 16 this year, concerned at the virus's potential to spread via the airline network. After China, Hong Kong was the second most severely affected region, recording 1,754 infections.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has already lifted its travel advisory warning to the city, doing so on May 28. However, Hong Kong will remain on the WHO's infected area list until no new cases are diagnosed for twenty consecutive days. The US Centre for Disease control also lifted its warning last week.
With the worst of the epidemic apparently over, the Hong Kong authorities and businesses can now devote their attention to rebuilding the shattered economy. Figures show that visitor numbers to the territory were 65% down on the same period last year, whilst the virus is expected to lead to a 1.8% shrinkage in GDP for April, followed by a 1.7% fall in May.
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