HONG KONG, March 21 (AFP) - Hong Kong is set to resume international flights from the United States, Britain and seven other countries, the government said Monday (Mar 21) as it announced a loosening of some of the world's toughest COVID-19 restrictions.

The quarantine period for arrivals from abroad will also be reduced to seven days.

The flight bans, known as a "circuit breaker", would be lifted from Apr 1.

These were put in place after the highly transmissible Omicron variant emerged in January, with the restrictions initially covering eight countries deemed high-risk - Australia, United States, Britain, Canada, France and India, Pakistan and the Philippines - and later Nepal.

"The circuit breaker ... is inopportune now," Chief Executive Carrie Lam said during a press conference on Monday.

"The epidemic situations in those countries are not worse than Hong Kong's, and most arrivals did not have serious symptoms. To extend the circuit breaker will add to concerns and anxieties of Hong Kong residents stranded there."

The current 14-day hotel quarantine for travellers will be reduced to seven days - provided they test negative on the sixth and seventh day of their stay - followed by another seven days of at-home monitoring.

Schools would resume face to face classes from Apr 19, after the Easter holidays.

Lam said social distancing measures would be eased in phases starting Apr 21. Restaurants may stay open after 6pm for dine-in services - currently banned - while public gatherings can include four people, up from the current two.

Nightclubs, pubs and beaches would be allowed to open in the second phase while people would be allowed to exercise outdoors without a mask. Masks are currently compulsory everywhere outside the home.