Hong Kong will lift bans on flights, cut quarantine times.

Hong Kong announced Monday that it would lift its ban on flights from nine countries April 1, just one of the restrictions it plans to relax as experts and government officials say the worst of an omicron-driven coronavirus wave might have passed.

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, said Monday that vaccinated residents would have to quarantine for only seven days, down from 14, upon arrival from overseas. The isolation for travelers had been one of the strictest in the world and had discouraged many from returning to the Chinese territory of 7.4 million people.

She also suspended plans to have every person in the city undergo PCR testing and moved up a deadline to receive booster shots to May 31. The extra dose will be necessary to enter public places, including supermarkets and shopping malls.