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Letters | Pilots should follow strict quarantine rules like the rest of Hong Kong
- Readers call for a review of the quarantine exemption for aircrew, a more holistic understanding of Omicron’s risks, Hong Kong’s colonial-era street names to be changed, and for cancer patients to practise self-kindness
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The new Covid-19 variant Omicron is about to pound our city now with the government insisting on exempting local cargo pilots from strict quarantine (“Cathay Pacific cargo pilot becomes first known carrier of Omicron variant in Hong Kong community”, December 18).
There are good reasons to criticise the government for its laissez-faire policy for pilots.
Although there is some evidence that vaccination, especially a booster shot, offers some protection against the mutant strain, the studies are not conclusive. It’s especially worrying that Omicron is highly transmissible, more so than the Delta strain. An Omicron wave may well overwhelm our health care system.
The pilot’s case triggered a lockdown and mandatory testing at his block of flats in Yau Ma Tei, as well as six places he visited in Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok. No one else has tested positive so far, but given the virus’ incubation period, the coming days will be critical.
Under current rules, returning pilots must self-isolate at home for three days, but can still leave their homes for up to two hours a day for valid reasons, such as to buy daily necessities. But who’s checking?
Health experts have called on the government to further tighten the rules, pointing out that aircrew are more at risk of getting infected. As Hong Kong braces itself for an Omicron onslaught, we should heed their advice.
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