Editorial | Spread of variant proves we are not out of the woods yet
- The need for extending and reinforcing some of the health and social-distancing controls must not be ruled out
Hong Kong is now on the alert after a more infectious strain of the coronavirus was found to have made its way into the local community.
Two cases, a traveller and his local friend who tested positive after the former had finished his quarantine, have raised questions about the reinforced control measures for overseas arrivals in place since late last year.
Unless the Covid-19 variant can be swiftly stamped out, it could undo months of arduous anti-epidemic efforts and derail a series of measures to ease social-distancing and dine-in rules scheduled to start next week.
How the N501Y mutant strain slipped in remains a mystery at this stage. Having completed the 21-day quarantine in a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, the asymptomatic man stayed with a friend in a residential block in Kowloon and visited various places in the city before he tested positive last Thursday.
Authorities could not say for sure whether the layers of tests for inbound travellers had failed or whether he was infected here. But the fact that his illness was undetected for almost a week, and with his friend also testing positive on Sunday, makes a strong case for an overhaul of the measures in place.
