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| Nighttime dine-in is back, but only until 9pm, and still with only 2 to a table |
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan made the
announcement this morning, a few hours before the Centre for Health Protection
announced that the city recorded 19 new cases today, Aug 25. This is more than
twice as many as the nine reported yesterday, the lowest daily tally since Jul
3.
Speaking ahead of the Executive Council meeting, Dr Chan
said the number of daily cases has been declining, giving reason for the
strictest restrictions ever imposed in the city to be relaxed a bit.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye! |
“Under the new normal, it is almost not possible for us to
wait until there are no more local cases before relaxing the social-distancing
measures,” Chan said.
Explaining why a dine-in ban after 9pm is still considered
necessary, she said the government wants to limit the time when people are
allowed not to wear masks in public, “but then balancing it with the need.”
This is the same reason why the gathering ban will remain in
force, the health minister said.
“The two-person limit will remain for the same reason (that)
we do not want to have too many people gathering together while they have their
masks off,” she said.
To give people more breathing space, those who exercise
outdoors and stroll in country parks will also be allowed to take off their
masks. But she said everybody should still bear in mind that the virus is still
around, so they must continue to take care.
At the same time, she announced that certain venues will
reopen from Friday, including cinemas, beauty parlors and some venues for
non-contact sports like golf and tennis.
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| Beauty parlors will be back in business starting Friday |
Meanwhile, Centre for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-wan
reported that today’s new cases included three new arrivals from overseas.
One was a seaman who arrived from Egypt
All the linked cases came from family clusters, meaning
relatives who dined or gathered together, while the untraceable cases involved
people from all walks of life – retirees, housewives, unemployed, engineers,
and so forth.
About 20 other people tested preliminary positive. Among
them is a boy aged a year and a half, who was found infected as he was about to
undergo surgery at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital. He has since been moved to an
isolation room at Queen
Elizabeth Hospital
According to Dr Chuang, the boy was found to have
antibodies, which could indicate that he had been infected earlier, but showed
no signs. His mother also had antibodies, which could indicate they were
infected at the same time.
The boy’s father and sister have been identified as close
contacts, and will be put under quarantine.
Dr Chuang said the boy’s case underlined the importance of
the universal testing set to start on Sept. 1, as its primary objective is to
flush out the asymptomatic carriers responsible for the silent transmission in
the community.
“For universal testing, we are carrying out a lot of tests,
our objective is to identify as many silent carriers as possible,” she said.
Health officials are also concerned about the outbreak at
the Hong Chi Association care home for the mentally disabled which is in Lei
Muk Shue in Kwai Chung.
Dr Chuang said give residents and a carer at the facility
tested preliminary positive today, after three staff were found infected
yesterday.
All the 50 staff at the care home have been moved to a
quarantine centre, while the 40 residents were sent to the AsiaWorld-Expo isolation
facility where they are being looked after by carers.
