The SUN HK : CE says HK infection rate has yet to peak

By The SUN

CE Lam says it is too early to say that the surge in cases is on the decline

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has warned that the fifth wave of Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong has not peaked yet, despite what some experts have been saying.

Speaking on Saturday at her daily press conference on the Covid situation, CE Lam said it would take a few more days before one can say the massive surge in cases which went up to more than 50,000 over three successive days last week, has subsided.

"At this moment, we cannot comfortably say that we have passed the peak, although some experts have said (otherwise),” she said.

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“We'd rather take a very cautious stance, that we will closely monitor the coming days to see whether we are seeing a drop in the confirmed cases, especially under the self-declaration system of those who were tested positive by the rapid antigen test.”

But Mrs Lam said she would do everything possible to get Hong Kong out of the continuing surge in cases. So far the total infection rate in the city has gone up to around 650,000 in the fifth wave alone.

“I could understand that people are very worried about the current fifth wave because of the tsunami-like increase in the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths. But we mustn't forget that we have gone through four waves of the COVID-19 epidemic with, I would say, relative success..” she said.

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"We are putting in every effort to fight this epidemic. We are not short of money, we will spend whatever money is required in order to get us out of this epidemic as soon as possible.”

In response to a call from Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Director Xia Baolong to improve food distribution, the CE said there will be a closed-loop system for cross-boundary drivers to transport goods from the mainland so the city is assured of steady supplies and prices.

She also defended the government’s decision announced last night to allow civil servants who had gone back to work after recovering from Covid-19 to continue working even if they test positive again.

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Mrs Lam said the decision which was announced by the Civil Service Department yesterday evening, has passed risk assessment. She cited expert studies showing re-positive cases only have a low viral load, which means their chances of infecting others is slim.

The chief executive said the decision was made also because of serious manpower problems. About 20,000 civil servants, or about 13% of the entire government workforce, have contracted Covid, although a number have already recovered and are back at work.

Meanwhile, almost a thousand Covid-19 cases were found during overnight lockdowns of six buildings in Tuen Mun, Tsing Yi, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Ho Man Tin and Wong Tai Sin.