HK poised for a record Covid-19 tally

 By Daisy CL Mandap 

Dr Chuang says 'hundreds, even more' cases could be detected soon

As the Lunar New Year holidays came to a close, an infectious disease expert again called on people not to gather, warning that “hundreds, even more” Covid-19 cases could be detected in the next few days because of many silent transmissions going on in the city.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection reported at the daily news briefing that 142 additional Covid-19 cases had been detected, and 31 of these were unlinked local cases, a new record for Hong Kong.

She also said 160 preliminary positive cases had been detected as of 4pm Thursday, indicating that the previous daily record of 164 new infections posted on Jan 27 is likely to be surpassed.

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Most, or 121 of today’s new cases are local cases, and 15 of them carried the Delta strain. The rest were all suspected Omicron cases.

They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 14,013.

Chuang said many of the local cases reported today involved only mild or no symptoms at all, indicating that many infected but asymptomatic patients are going around the city, unknowingly infecting people around them.

The 129 untraceable cases recorded in the past two weeks alone are said to provide proof of the many invisible transmissions going on right now.

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“From overseas experience, because Omicron is highly transmissible, we can expect a high exponential growth of cases,” said Chuang.

“So we are rather concerned that we will be seeing hundreds, even more cases soon, and that will cause a burden on our health care system.”

Asked whether social distancing measures need to be tightened further because of the continuing surge in cases, Chuang said the government is looking at the situation closely and will announce further measures as appropriate.

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She said cases coming from cross-family gatherings have begun to be detected, citing one in Tuen Mun as an example.

“Please stay at home as much as possible and unless necessary, do not go to any large gatherings and engage in too many social activities,” she said.

Of the unlinked cases, two involved the Delta variant. The patients live in Choi Wan Estate and Tai Ping Estate in Sheung Shui.

The unlinked Omicron cases live in the following places: Pacific Palisades and City Garden in North Point, as well as Shatin, Tai Wai, Tai Po, Ma On Shan, Lam Tin, Tsz Hong Estate, Sham Shui Po, Shek Lei Estate, Park Island

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Dr. Chuang said six of those who tested positive are cleaners who work in Science Park, Landmark, Hong Kong Adventist Hospital in Tsuen Wan, Tsz On Court in Tsz Wan Shan and Sun Chui Estate in Tai Wai.

Two staff at Times Café in Chung On Shopping Centre in Ma On Shan and four in Sun Sun Restaurant in Chuang’s London Plaza in Jordan were also among those infected.

4 staff members of Sun Sun restaurant in Jordan were among the new cases

Two others contracted the virus at a fish store in Hung Hom market, which was closed at 6pm Thursday and will remain shut on Friday for disinfection.

At an elderly home in Kwai Chung, a staff member tested positive days after another person there was found infected. The two had no contact with each other. As a result more than 60 residents and staff at the care home will be sent to quarantine.

Two recognizance holders also tested positive but could not be found. Chuang said one of them is due to report soon to an NGO.

Another housing block will be partially evacuated, amid fears of vertical and horizontal transmissions among flats. Residents of  flat 18 on the 6^th and 7^th floor of Bik Shui House, Shui Pin Wai Estate in Yuen Long will be moved to a quarantine center.

Meanwhile, two more passengers on Nepal Air flight RA409 which arrived in Hong Kong on Jan 25 were among 21 imported cases today. They took the total number of infections from the flight to a whopping 82.

Two foreign domestic workers were also on the list. One arrived from Indonesia on Feb 1 and was on her third day of quarantine at Courtyard by Marriott Hotel when she tested positive. The other was locally infected, and lives in Hing Lung Building in Wong Tai Sin.

Three male seafarers who sailed into Hong Kong from Singapore are also among the new cases.

Meanwhile, two flights were suspended for two weeks after a number of their passengers tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong.

Flight TK083 operated by Turkish Airlines arrived in Hong Kong from Istanbul on Feb 1 and six of its passengers were found infected on arrival.

The second is flight AY101 operated by Finnair which arrived on Feb 2. Five of its passengers tested positive on arrival.

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Expert warns worst is yet to come as unlinked cases continue to surge

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Stanley Plaza was less crowded today as health officials warn people to avoid gathering

Health officials have warned of a further surge in Covid-19 infections in the coming days, as a new record of 30 untraceable cases was posted Wednesday, Feb 2.

Speaking at the daily press conference on coronavirus cases, Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said, “We haven’t yet reached the peak, that’s why we must all be very careful and watch the situation closely.”

Including today’s 30 cases, the total number of infections whose sources have yet to be traced has now reached 129.

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Dr Chuang reported that 116 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, and 103 of them were local cases.

Thirteen were imported, including an additional seven cases from the virus-infested Nepal Airlines flight that arrived in Hong Kong on Jan 25. Including the 73 previously detected, a total of 80 passengers have now tested positive from that flight, a record in Hong Kong.

While the Omicron continues to be the dominant variant, more Delta cases continue to be found in Hong Kong, with some of them from unknown sources.

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According to Dr Chuang, 17 patients carried the mutant strains linked to Delta, while 71 are suspected Omicron cases. The 15 others have yet to be determined pending DNA analysis.

Among the Delta carriers is a 77-year-old woman who is the only patient out of 1,220 still receiving treatment in various public hospitals and infection control centers who is in critical condition.

Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority said the woman was in good condition when admitted to Queen Mary Hospital on Jan 24 but her condition has deteriorated since. She suffers from diabetes and has not received any Covid-19 vaccine.

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Dr Lau took the chance to again appeal to everyone, especially the elderly who have not been vaccinated, to go get jabbed immediately “to avoid chances of serious complications.”

Latest figures show the number of people who have received the first dose of a vaccine is now at 5,348,780 or 79.4% of the eligible population (not including children aged 5-11).

Meanwhile of the 103 local cases, 73 were linked to previous cases and come from different parts of Hong Kong, but mostly in Kowloon and the New Territories.

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Among them are three people who took part in a religious ritual on Jan 28 at a mosque on Cheung Fook Building on Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po called the Hazrat Siddique Akbar Society. The place will be put under a compulsory testing notice.

3 people who took part in the religious ceremony at the mosque on Jan 28 tested positive

Another suspected cluster has emerged at the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Shatin where two cases have been confirmed while one is preliminary positive.

The unlinked cases live in Block 5 of Kornhill in Quarry Bay, Third Street in Sai Ying Pun, Cheung Sha Wan, Wong Tai Sin, To Kwa Wan, Lam Tin, Shek Yam Estate, Choi Wan Estate, Tseung Kwan O, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Sheung Shui, Sha Tin, Tai Wo and Fanling

·         At least two more housing blocks are being checked for possible transmission in several flats. These are Kwai Foon House in Kwai Fong Estate, Kwai Chung, Hing Ping House in Tai Hing Estate, and Mei Sun Building in Tai Po. Some of the residents in these housing blocks will be moved to a quarantine center as a precaution.

The CHP said that with the higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant, residents must comply with social distancing rules and refrain from participating in large gatherings, particularly religious or those involving cross-family activities.

The full details of today’s confirmed cases are here: https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202202/02/P2022020200520_386799_1_1643808551616.pdf

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Hospitals fast-track discharge of Covid-19 patients

By The SUN

Lau says patients who will be discharged will be carrying a 'dead' virus but will still need to isolate

The Hospital Authority has announced a more relaxed set of discharge criteria for Covid-19 patients amid fears hospitals could soon be overwhelmed by a huge surge in cases after the Lunar New Year holidays.

HA chief manager Dr Lau Ka-hin said at a press conference Wednesday that patients who are found to have a Ct value of 33 and above in three tests will be released.

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However, they will still need to undergo home quarantine for a further 14 days during which they must wear a tracking bracelet and submit themselves to several more tests.

The previous discharge requirement of testing negative twice in 24 hours will remain, while a third criterion Lau mentioned is when the patient tests negative to positive in an antigen test, but the Ct value is over 33.

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He said a study conducted at the University of Hong Kong found that in specimen samples with a Ct value of over 30, it is no longer possible to culture the virus “because it’s all dead.”

Thus, setting the Ct value at 33 is deemed to be safe enough for the patient to go home as he or she will no longer be able to infect family members.

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Lau said between 50 to 60 people currently in hospitals met the new criteria, and would be released starting on Wednesday. This was especially true for those who did not have any symptoms.

Previously, the more stringent discharge rules meant that hospitals were beginning to lose precious space for Covid-19 patients, as the number of new confirmed cases averaged about 120 in the past week, while only around 20 were being discharged.

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On Wednesday, when 116 new cases were reported, only 20 patients could be sent home as of 9am that day.

The case build-up in recent days, coupled with the slow discharge process, led to a total of 1,220 patients being treated at various public hospitals and infection control facilities, when all but one of them were in stable condition.

Experts say elderly people will be hit hard if there is a mass outbreak of cases 

Earlier, the chief executive of the HA warned of a “tsunami” of Covid outbreaks after the Lunar New Year.

Writing on his blog, Dr Tony Ko said the prospect of a major outbreak after the holiday has reached “a dangerous level” judging by the number of infections with unknown sources that have emerged lately.

Ko warned of dire consequences if there was an outbreak among the elderly and children.

He said public hospitals have been preparing for the worst by increasing the number of beds and stepping up training for medical staff who need to take care of the young and the old.

He urged people to stay at home as much as possible during the long holiday instead 

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HK logs highest number of untraceable cases

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

CE Lam visits contract tracing offices in Mong Kok and Kai Tak amis surge in unlinked cases 

Hong Kong has recorded 22 new untraceable cases, the biggest ever in a single day since the Omicron-fueled fifth wave of the coronarivus contagion started. They were among 129 new infections reported by health officials on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said that there are now 98 unlinked cases, suggesting that “there is still quite a number of invisible transmissions going on in the community.”

She did not mention specific cases, but said the patients with unlinked infections live in Sai Ying Pun, Tai Hong Estate, To Kwa Wan, Sham Shui Po, Hunghom, Cheung Sha Wan, Tsuen Wan, Shek Lei II Estate, Shek Yam East Estate, Yuen Long, Shatin, Tuen Mun and Tai Po.

The disclosure came after Chief Executive Carrie Lam visited the government's con

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tact tracing offices in Kai Tak and Mong Kok and thanked staff there for working even during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Around 400 staff work at the two offices, and they have so far traced 31,000 close contacts of confirmed patients who had to be put under quarantine to prevent the virus from spreading further.

2 previously unlinked cases at the airport have been traced to the virus-plagued Nepal Air flight

At least two previously untraceable cases, those involving two airport cleaners, have now been linked through genomic sequencing to a virus-plagued flight from Kathmandu, Nepal that arrived on Jan 25.

The number of infected passengers on the RA 409 flight operated by Nepal Airlines rose to a whopping 73 today, with eight more infections confirmed today.

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Also among the 27 imported cases today are four foreign domestic workers – three females who flew in from Indonesia aboard CX796 on Jan 28, and a male helper who came from the United Arab Emirates via EK384 on Jan. 25.

Another passenger flight from Jakarta, GA876 operated by Garuda Indonesia, was today suspended from flying to Hong Kong after three of its passengers on Jan 30 tested positive on arrival. The suspension will last until Feb 14.

Of the 129 positive cases reported today, 84 have symptoms while 45 are asymptomatic.

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Dr Chuang said more than 90 preliminary positive cases have been reported, indicating the fifth wave of infections is far from over.

Among the 102 local confirmed cases, nine carried the L452R mutant strain of the Delta variant, 81 had the Omicron strains while 12 are either awaiting results or the sample is too little for testing.

Among the Delta carriers are a person who lives in Tai Wo Estate and works in Lam Tin, and another who lives in Yau Tong and works in Chai Wan.

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More vertical transmissions in residential blocks have been detected, necessitating the evacuation of some residents.

These include Tsui Wo House, Tai Wo Estate, Tai Po where residents on the 23^rd and 24^th floor have to be evacuated.

Also affected is Ming Lai House in Choi Wan Estate in Wong Tai Sin where three infections in number 16 units were found. Those living in units 16 and 17 on all floors will have to be evacuated as a result.

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Today’s confirmed cases took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 13,829, of which 1,103 are still being treated at infection control centers and public hospitals.

Further details of the cases are here: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202202/01/P2022020100427.htm

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Pinoy nabistong overstayer nang maaresto dahil sa away

 

West Kowloon Magistracy

Isang Pilipino ang nakulong matapos umamin sa West Kowloon Magistracy na nag-overstay siya sa Hong Kong nang mahigit dalawang taon.

Umamin si Jerome C. Yumul, 51, ng "Breach of condition of stay - overstay" sa harap ni Magistrate Colin Wong Sze-Cheung Noong Jan. 31 matapos basahan ng kaso na isinalin sa Tagalog ng isang interpreter.

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Ayon sa salaysay laban sa kanya, inaresto si Yumul noong Jan. 11 matapos masangkot sa isang away sa tabi ng Shek Kip Mei MTR Station. 

Sa Sham Shui Po police station kung saan siya dinala, itinawag ng pulis na nag-imbestiga sa kaso ang kanyang Hong Kong ID sa Immigraton Department at nalaman ditong ilegal na siyang naglalagi sa Hong Kong simula pa noong November 2019.

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Dumating si Yumul sa Hong Kong noong 2017 bilang domestic helper. Tatlong buwan lang ang itinagal niya sa employer nang materminate siya.

Nakakuha siya ng ilang visa extension mula sa sa Immigration Department dahil kinasuhan niya ang kanyang employer at dinidinig pa ito. Ang huli niyang extension ay noong Oct. 8, 2019.

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Ayon sa salaysay, tumigil sa pagkuha ng visa extension si Yumul dahil nawala daw niya ang kanyang passport. Nang matapos ang huling visa na iginawad sa kanya ay naging ilegal na ang paglagi niya sa Hong Kong.

Ayon sa abugado ni Yumul, hindi daw nito naasikaso ang pagkuha ng visa para manatiling legal ang pagtigil nya sa Hong Kong dahil napaalis siya sa bahay na kanyang tinitirhan at nawala ang kanyang passport.

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Dahil dito, napabayaan na rin niya ang kanyang kaso sa Labour Tribunal, na dahilan ng pagbibigay sa kanya ng visa extension.

Hiningi rin ng abugado na huwag nang ikulong si Yumul.

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Pero ayon sa hukom, hindi wasto na walang parusang kulong sa ganitong paglabag ng Immigration Ordinance, na nagtatakda ng parusang pagkakakulong ng hanggang dalawang taon at multang $50,000.

Ibinaba na lang ni Magistrate Wong ang parusa sa anim na linggo.

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HK agrees to recognize Phl’s digital vaccination certificate

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The recognized format of the digital VaxCertPH

The Hong Kong government has accepted the Philippines’ digital vaccination certificate (otherwise known as VaxCertPH) for entry into the territory.

Consul General Raly Tejada announced the move yesterday, Jan 31, after the Hong Kong government issued a press release adding VaxCertPH in its list of recognized vaccination records.

Before this, only the Yellow Card issued by the Bureau of Quarantine was accepted as proof of vaccination for qualified people who received their Covid-19 jabs in the Philippines, and want to fly into Hong Kong.

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“This is in addition to the Yellow Card, which means travelers now have the option to present either document when checking in at the airport (NAIA) and upon arrival in HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport,” said Congen Tejada.

The news should come as a relief to many Hong Kong-bound travelers, mostly foreign domestic workers who are about to take up a job in the city for the first time.

Thousands of FDWs who were stranded by a four-month travel ban imposed by Hong Kong on the Philippines last year were unable to book their flights and quarantine places in the city immediately because they could not secure an appointment for the Yellow Card, which was used by all Filipinos intending to travel abroad. 

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Some of those who did find slots had to travel to some far-off office of the BOQ to secure the much-needed card.

However, this no longer seems to be the problem but a new ban on passenger flights imposed by Hong Kong on the Philippines and seven other countries beginning on Jan. 8. The ban, which was supposed to last for only two weeks, has now been extended to Feb. 18.

Hong Kong-bound Filipino workers used to wait for a long time to get the Yellow Card

In its statement announcing the recognition of the second vaccination certificate issued by the Philippines, the Hong Kong government also said that it had agreed to accept vaccination records issued by Peru and the United Nations starting next Saturday, Feb 5.

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Peru is currently a Group A or “high risk” specified place, as do 147 other countries. But under a new regulation that takes effect on Feb 5, all arrivals in Hong Kong from abroad will have to undergo compulsory quarantine for 14 days in a designated hotel, regardless of the risk category of the place they come from.

On the other hand, the UN has been arranging vaccination for its personnel worldwide, and has been issuing relevant vaccination records. 

Hong Kong will now accept the vaccination certificates issued by the two entities as long as they are in the prescribed format.

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In addition, the vaccines administered to the relevant travelers have to be listed in Hong Kong’s list of Covid-19 vaccines recognized for specified purposes.

Vaccination records recognized by Hong Kong include (a) vaccination records issued by Hong Kong, (b) vaccination records or certifications issued by Mainland or Macao authorities or an institution recognised by Mainland or Macao authorities, (c) vaccination records or certifications issued by an authority or recognised institution of a country where its national regulatory authority is designated by the World Health Organization as a stringent regulatory authority, (d) vaccination records or certifications issued by a relevant authority or recognised institution of a country with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement with its government, or (e) vaccination records issued by an organization with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement.

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The acceptance of the BOQ-issued Yellow Card and the VaxCertPH falls under category d above.

The complete list of the accepted vaccination certificates can be found here:

https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202201/31/P2022013100609_386698_1_1643624438614.pdf.

Please click on “Philippines” to see the recognized format of the Yellow Card and the VaxCertPh.

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