A deputy to the National People’s Congress, Michael Tien, on Monday called on the government to tighten its quarantine exemption system, saying this could be key to reopening the border with the mainland. Tien made the suggestion after a Russian diplomat in Hong Kong was confirmed with Covid-19 over the weekend, triggering a lockdown of his residential building. “It involves sovereignty and diplomacy, and the negotiation is very complex. But I heard that there are more than a hundred consulates in Hong Kong. Is there a quota [for the exemptions]? If there are a dozen staff for each of them, it adds up to two thousand,” Tien told an RTHK programme. “Can’t they give a quota for each consulate? Three at most, I’d say. The consul-general, a deputy plus someone else. There’s no reason to exempt their family members. And what about their staff? At least the list of exemption can be narrowed,” he suggested. He said he was shocked that NPC Standing Committee member Tam Yiu-chung was barred from attending a regular meeting…