Glance up while strolling through parts of downtown Hong Kong and, chances are, you’ll notice the glassy black lens of a surveillance camera trained on the city’s crowded streets.

The announcement that masks would no longer be required indoors or out ends the last major restriction the Chinese territory imposed during the pandemic.

Hong Kong will implement real-name registration for the contact-tracing LeaveHomeSafe app and China-style health codes to “identify” those infected or undergoing quarantine, the new health chief Lo Chung-mau said on Monday.

Security staff surrounded the site as the view was obscured with curtains and plastic barriers at around 11pm. The move was reportedly approved by the institution’s ruling body