The SUN HK : Testing requirements tightened as 7,835 new Covid cases reported

By The SUN

Those attending banquets will have to show negative results for either a 24-hr RAT or 48-hr PCR test

Starting on Sunday, everyone who attends banquets must present a negative result for a rapid antigen test done within 24 hours, or a PCR test conducted within 48 hours.

This was among the stricter anti-pandemic measures announced by Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau at the daily press briefing on Friday afternoon, during which an additional 7,835 Covid-19 cases were reported.

Also part of new measures is the requirement that workers at all the regulated premises, such as gyms, beauty parlours and mahjong halls, must undergo a rapid test every three days.

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Those who work in care homes will be required to undergo PCR tests on alternate days, as well as staff of the Hospital Authority.

In addition, those who test positive for Covid will be sent to isolation facilities with their families if any of them are at high risk and their living conditions are not suitable.

Patients aged 70 or older who aren’t vaccinated or have received only one jab will also be moved to isolation facilities so they can be looked after, Lo said.

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He urged the public to cooperate when issued with a quarantine or isolation order, such as those given a yellow or red health code. Should it become necessary, law enforcers will be called in.

Dr Lo said that at the current rate of increase of new cases, the number could soon double every two weeks, further burdening the health care system.

He rejected a suggestion that the rising trend is upsetting the government’s plan to further open up the border.

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“I would say that the rising trend should upset everyone in Hong Kong,” he said, adding that this threatens the most vulnerable members of society, like the elderly and the very young ones, for whom vaccination was allowed only a few weeks ago.

“If we cannot control the rising upward rising trend and relieve the burden on our health care system, the further opening up is not a realistic option at this point," he added.

Sec Lo says everyone in HK must be concerned about the rising number of infections

Responding to another reporter’s question as to why Hong Kong is tightening Covid restrictions while other places are relaxing theirs, Lo said: “I’ve repeatedly emphasised that we are different from other countries.”

“We are glad that we are different from other countries, in a sense that, for example, UK has suffered a very high casualty during the Covid pandemic… We certainly don’t want to copy that.”

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Among the new infections, 7,665 were locally transmitted, while the remaining 170 cases were all imported.

Seven more related deaths were logged, taking the tally in the fifth wave to 9,437. The fatalities were all males aged 79 to 95. Only three of them had received the third dose of a vaccine.

The number of patients being treated in public hospitals and infection control centers has gone up to 2,324 with 322 new patients being admitted in the past 24 hours.

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Among them, 40 are in critical condition, including 13 in intensive care, while 24 are in serious condition.

Of the 170 imported cases, 55 were detected on arrival at the airport, 38 during the 3-day hotel quarantine, 63 between days 4 to 7; and 12 after 7 days, which are likely re-positive cases.

The imported cases came from 38 countries, and the following had more than 10 positive cases each: United Kingdom, 22; India, 19; the Philippines, 18; the United States, 15.

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Lo stressed that the number of imported cases make up only a small portion of the daily infections.

In fact, while the number of inbound passengers has increased, the number of imported cases has dropped, he said. From about 4% of the total infections, imported cases now account for just 3.6% of the tally.