Coronavirus epidemic will not end this year, Hong Kong’s leading microbiologist says

The Covid-19 epidemic caused by the coronavirus will not end this year as the contagion has spread worldwide, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong has said.

Professor Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong, who advised authorities on control measures against the disease, said although the situation in mainland China and Hong Kong might improve in summer, there could be more imported cases from the southern hemisphere in winter.

“We think the epidemic will probably not come to an end,” Yuen said on a pre-recorded television interview aired on Sunday. “There will be what we call reversed imported cases. In the beginning other countries feared us, now we fear them [for bringing in the virus].”

He elaborated further in a reply to the Post later on Sunday that in his view, the epidemic would not end until a cheap and effective antiviral or vaccine became available or the majority of the population had contracted the virus and got natural immunity.

All people returning to Hong Kong from Iran, the city of Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang province in South Korea and three regions in Italy will face a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Since Sunday, Hong Kong also required all arriving visitors to declare their health condition.

In a reply to the Post over further travel warnings as France and Germany had recorded outbreaks, the Hong Kong government said it would conduct a risk assessment before formulating measures. It added that aspects to consider would be the number, distribution and rate of increase of infections in particular countries or regions. Others factors include surveillance and control measures of foreign governments, and the frequency of visit to such places by Hongkongers.