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.

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Some 8,000 residents of the affected blocks were told to undergo testing after the virus was found in their sewage.

A total of 992 suspected infections and 135 indeterminate cases were found during the lockdowns.

Seven similar lockdowns or “restriction-testing declarations” have been issued on various housing blocks on Saturday.

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Those covered by the order include one building in Kwun Tong, another in Ho Man Tin, two in Wong Tai Sin and three in Tuen Mun.

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2 Filipinos jailed for using fake money to buy food and get haircut lose appeals

 

The Court of Appeal decided to speed up the hearing amid long court adjournments

Two Filipinos who were jailed after using three fake $500 bills to make small purchases and pocket the change in genuine money, had their conviction and sentences affirmed by the Court of Appeal in a decision issued on March 10.

The court said the two cases had to be decided together to avoid holding the two appellants beyond their prison terms

Rhea Nerisa C. Maristela appealed against her conviction and sentence of two years' imprisonment, while Calveen Castrillo Lacuarin who was with her when the offences were committed, appealed only against his sentence of two years and three months.

Maristela managed to apear before Andrew Macrae, vice president of the Court of Appeal, while Lacuarin could not be present reportedly "because of public health concerns at the prison" where he was detained.

Justice Macrae said that with the courts declaring “a General Adjourned Period (GAP), the length and extent of which is uncertain,” the case may get entangled in “in circumstances where there is likely to be a long backlog of cases.”

All hearings that are not urgent in nature have been adjourned until next month because of the rapid surge in coronavirus cases in the city.

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Macrae said he had to issue his decision for both of them for three reasons:

1. Both did not present valid written grounds to question their conviction and sentences.

2. Maristela was expected to be released on March 15 (or in five days) at the earliest, so it is unfair for her if Lacuarin’s case is postponed and decided after that date.

3. Lacuarin’s own sentence will end in May, but because of other offences he has committed, the date of his release is now uncertain. If he will renew his appeal, the case may be resolved after the GAP.

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Maristela and Lacuarin were jailed for two years for each of the three charges of passing counterfeit bills, to run concurrently, by District Court Judge Amanda Jane Woodcock on Oct. 29, 2021. Lacuarin, being a Form 8 recognizance holder or asylum seeker, was meted an additional three months in jail.

The two first used a fake $500 bill to buy two cups of ice cream from a McDonald’s restaurant in North Point at 4:43pm on June 20, 2020, and received change of $489.50. That evening, the restaurant manager found the fake note in the cash register and called the police.

Two hours later, the two went to a hair salon also in North Point, where Maristela had a hair cut. Paying for the service and a hair oil product with another fake $500 bill, she received $312 in change. The owner found the fake note when checking the accounts for the day, and called the police.

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The pair then went to another MacDonald’s, where they bought food, and paid with another fake $500 note, where Maristela got a change of $413.

They were arrested on July 16, 2020 and, in separate video recordings, admitted passing the three fake bills – part of the $2,000 they started with -- but denied knowing they were fake. 

They also told two different stories.

Maristela said that Lacuarin got the money when he sold his shoes for $2,000. Lacuarin, on the other hand, said Maristela sold her mother’s shoes for $2,000 and that he never touched the fake money.

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“The judge found the applicants had given different accounts in their VRIs (video recorded interviews) but rejected what they had each said in their interviews as incredible, unreliable and fictional,” Macrae said.

“She found that they had both targeted McDonald’s restaurants because they were places where the cashiers were likely to be busy.  By tendering a large banknote for a relatively small item, they could receive a large amount of clean money as change,” he added.

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CCTV footage also showed Lacuarin handing Maristela something that looked like a banknote in the hair salon and at the second MacDonald’s.  

“While this action may not be enough to prove guilt by itself, it was coupled with the fact that the 1st applicant (Maristela) then immediately tendered a counterfeit banknote,” Macrae added.

In addition to the counterfeit case, Lacuarin was also convicted in 2015 for breach of condition of stay and for theft in 2018, 2019 and 2021. 

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Covid cases down to 29,381 but deaths remain at around 300

By The SUN 

HA apologized over photo showing elderly patients sharing a ward with cadavers inside body bags

Health authorities reported another drop in new Covid-19 infections but the number of deaths continued to climb, with 196 new deaths being reported in the past 24 hours alone. Another 98 cases were added to the tally as they were not reported on time earlier.

The total confirmed cases added up to 29,381, with those tested positive from PCR tests making up 18,888 while an additional 10,493 came from reported rapid test results. Reporters who attended the daily press briefing Friday persisted in asking questions about a leaked photo showing elderly patients sharing a hospital ward with what appeared to be a number of corpses in body bags.

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Hospital Authority’s chief manager Dr Sara Ho did not deny that what the photo showed was real, but said the incident happened some weeks ago, when the Covid surge was raging out of control, and the situation had been resolved.

She asked for understanding from the patients and family members of the deceased, saying staff had been “under immense pressure” because the fifth wave hit quickly and hard and was unprecedented in its severity.

Ho declined to name the hospital concerned, and just said the bodies of the deceased are no longer inside the wards as they had been moved to refrigerated containers outside the hospitals.

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She appealed to families to make the necessary arrangements for claiming the bodies so the deceased could be laid to rest.

Since the start of the fifth wave of infections the death toll had steadily risen, and now hovers around 300, with about a third of the cases not being reported on time.

Friday’s record tally was made up of 127 males and 69 females aged 24 to 107 years old. As before, a big number – or 113 – were residents in care homes.

A Covid doctor was shown in a viral video breaking down over work pressure  

An overwhelming number, or 148, did not receive any vaccination, while 30 had one dose, 12 had two doses and one had three doses.

The youngest fatality, a 24-year-old male, had a hereditary disease and was living in a care home for the disabled. He was taken to hospital after vomiting and had seizures. He tested positive on admission and passed on shortly after.

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There were five others who were all aged under 60, and all had chronic illnesses with some needing constant care.

They comprised 59 males and 39 females, aged from 34 to 100 years old. No other background was given on the individual cases.

As of Friday, a total of 3,231 patients have died from the fifth wave which started on Dec 31, 2021. Nine of the deceased were found infected during post-mortem while the rest all died in hospital.

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The death toll from the pandemic overall stands at 3,444.

Meanwhile, Dr Albert Au of the Centre for Health Protection again said it appeared the fifth wave had peaked, judging from the consistent drop in the daily infection figure.

But while there was no longer an exponential increase in the number of cases, he said the daily tally of about 30,000 is still worrying, as it indicated a lot of silent transmissions were still going on.

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He also pointed out that the infection rate in places that had been put under restricted testing declarations or lockdowns was between 10 to 20%, indicating widespread transmission.

He urged people to remain on guard, and continue practicing social distancing.

Au also revealed that a study conducted by government experts showed the same genome sequencing was found between imported hamsters and humans who tested positive for the Delta variant, indicating cross-infection.

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He said that among those who tested positive in the fifth wave, 726 were found to carry Delta’s  L452R strain. The variant has not been seen in any of the cases in the past few days, indicating the spread has been contained.

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CE says 14-day quarantine for new arrivals will remain

 By The SUN

 

Scene at the airport today: More people are leaving due to Covid spread and strict quarantine rules

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has ruled out cutting the 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from abroad, despite a new discharge criteria put in place by the Centre for Health Protection that allows locally infected patients who have had at least two doses of the vaccine to leave their isolation after testing negative on days six and seven.

“I do appreciate the sort of frustrations of some of the arrivals from overseas that while we are adjusting our own quarantine and isolation policies…we are still adhering to the same quarantine arrangement for inbound travelers,” Mrs Lam said at the press briefing she held Friday.

“This is because of the risk that we must ensure that we will not impose further on the hospitals. As I said, I can understand their frustrations, but at this moment, Hong Kong is facing an unprecedented epidemic. At this point in time my first priority is to ensure that we could protect people in Hong Kong and also protect the public hospital system. To make any relaxation for arrivals which will run any risk in those respects is not something the Chief Executive would like to see.”

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However, she said that after the fifth wave of the epidemic has subsided, she will take another look at border control, particularly for Hong Kong residents who have been unable to come back because of flight bans imposed on nine countries. She said the government will look at mapping out a pathway for their return home.

At the same time, she said the government has no plans of relaxing the most stringent social gathering rules imposed as the surge in Covid cases intensified towards the end of last month.

Mrs Lam said the measures remain a key part of the anti-pandemic fight. Despite recent figures indicating the fifth wave has peaked after topping more than 50,000 daily infections she said it was too early to predict a downward trend.

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But she said the government will keep an eye on the situation and revise policies as it sees fit.

The strict measures which remain in place until Apr 20, includes suspension of face-to-face classes, allowing no more than two persons to gather in public, and the closing of most venues where people tend to gather like bars, karaokes, cinemas and amusement parks.

Asked about a report that said a study by the University of Hong Kong had challenged the effectiveness of the policy banning dine-ins at restaurants after 6pm, the CE said she was surprised to hear about it.

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But she said HKU’s dean of medicine Prof Gabriel Leung had told someone in her staff that his statement was taken out of context, and that he could be quoted on this.

The CE added that “Actually, if you thought through it, it's not quite logical. If we don't allow people to come in a restaurant, that must have a better effect than allowing people to come in, take off their masks and then have their meals together.”

Mrs Lam was joined at the daily briefing by the Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong.

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Nip, who oversees Hong Kong’s vaccination program, said the government is aiming to vaccinate all elderly residents in care homes by Mar 18. The move is prompted by the high infection rate and mortality among residents in such facilities.

He said around 89 percent of people aged 60 to 69 have received at least one dose of a vaccine, but the rate dipped to only 79% among those between the ages of 70 to 79.

Of those aged 80 and above who are at most risk, only 54% have had at least one jab.

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He said about 40,000 residents in 970 care homes have already been inoculated, and outreach teams will go to the remaining 130 homes to ensure those who are medically fit to receive the vaccine are also jabbed.

Elderly people who live alone will also be visited at a later time so they could also be vaccinated at home.

Law said the reason many elderly residents in the care homes were not vaccinated was because of the resistance from relatives. About 10 percent of family members are said to oppose the vaccination of their elderly relative.

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In fact, allowing the elderly to get vaccinated is not just a way of protecting them but other members of the family too, said Law.

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CE says flight ban won’t be lifted until 5th wave is over

By The SUN

 

CE Lam says imported cases will add to the burden of medical frontliners  

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has dashed hopes that a flight ban on nine countries including the Philippines will be lifted anytime soon, saying people will have to wait until the current surge in coronavirus cases in Hong Kong has been put under control.

Speaking at her daily press update on the Covid situation, Mrs Lam said, “This is not the time to immediately lift the bans or else as a result a lot of people will rush to come back and inevitably amongst some of those people there will be infected cases. There may even be critically ill cases arising from the returns and that would add a lot of pressure to our public hospital system.”

She was responding to a question on whether the flight ban should already be lifted, given that the number of imported cases lately is just a fraction of locally acquired infections.

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The flight ban, originally imposed on Jan 8, has been repeatedly extended, with the latest extension set to expire on Apr 20. Aside from the Philippines, it also covers Australia, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the United States and United Kingdom.

Anybody who had stayed in any of these nine countries for at least two hours within the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter Hong Kong.

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Mrs Lam cited the recent case of a CX flight from Indonesia, in which more than 20 passengers tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong.

“We had to look after those cases. I need to transport those cases either into hospitals or into isolation facilities,” she said.

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Such operation added to the burden of the city’s frontline health workers, she said. “At this moment, it is not the time to add more pressure to their work.”

She said she has plans to open up Hong Kong again but they will have to wait until after the fifth wave of the contagion has been put under control, and if feasible, after a universal testing is carried out to track down the remaining infections in the city.

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The CE also dismissed a suggestion that the government’s activation of an emergency alert system to inform the public that Queen Elizabeth Hospital had been designated as a Covid-only treatment facility had caused unnecessary alarm.

“I am aware that some people in society thought this was a good idea...They said they are happy to get news from the government through this channel,” she said.

Mrs Lam justified the use of the alert system by saying the city is “clearly in a public emergency situation right now” and that people needed to be informed because Queen Elizabeth had the busiest accident and emergency departments among all public hospitals.

The 280-bed San Tin isolation facility started taking in patients today

The focus of her daily briefing was, however, the construction of more isolation and quarantine facilities on seven more sites, including a plot on the Lok Ma Chau loop and the Kai Tak cruise terminal.

Ideally, she said all those who will test positive can be moved to an isolation facility, while close contacts are placed in quarantine centers.

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Separately, Secretary for Development Michael Wong said two isolation facilities have been put into service starting this month.

The Tsing Yi site which has 3,900 beds opened at the start of the month while a second one in San Tin, Yuen Long with 2,800 beds, has just accepted its first patients.

Wong said that six other community isolation facilities built with help from the mainland will start operating later this month.

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After the conversion of public housing blocks and more than 30 hotels into isolation facilities, more than 70,000 units or beds are expected to be opened for use by Covid-19 patients in the next couple of months.

Security chief Chris Tang said these facilities will provide a selection of food to patients, as well as free newspapers, toys and internet connection. Cleaners will also be on duty around the clock to  maintain hygiene.

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