Passport applications at all-time high
The Immigration Department on Tuesday said a record number of people have been applying for passports as people make the best of the recently eased Covid travel restrictions. In an end-of-year media briefing, the department said it has received more than 100,000 passport applications a month since October. Officials said there's also been brisk travel to the mainland since quarantine rules were dropped a little over a week ago, with more than 200,000 people travelling north and 140,000 people crossing into Hong Kong.  Tai Chi-yuen, a Deputy Director of Immigration, said officials had worked hard to ensure a smooth return of travel.  "During the last three years, when most of the control points were closed, many of our manpower has been deployed to support our other duties," he said.  "When we prepared for the reopening of some of the major control points, we deployed roughly 2,000 staff back to the control points to get prepared to ensure their smooth operation."  The department added that it's working with mainland authorities on the reopening of the Lo Wu border checkpoint, which is being renovated. Though no timetable has been given for the reopening.