Hong Kong third wave: Covid-19 situation ‘getting a bit out of hand’, officials warn as 38 new infections confirmed

Authorities have so far been unable to trace the source of infection in 13 of 38 new confirmed cases

Centre for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan urges public to avoid going out amid the city’s most severe wave of infections to date

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Hongkongers are being urged to stay at home and avoid social gatherings amid a third wave of coronavirus infections experts have called the city’s worst yet. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:43pm, 12 Jul 2020Updated: 11:58am, 13 Jul 2020

Health authorities urged people to stay home and avoid social gatherings, warning that the situation in Hong Kong was “getting a bit out of hand” as they confirmed 38 more Covid-19 infections on Sunday, while more than 20 people preliminarily tested positive.

With the city battling an escalating third wave of cases, health experts piled pressure on the government for stricter measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, while a leading expert warned that each person with the disease could potentially infect four others.

However, apart from announcing a return to some tighter social-distancing measures last week, the government has not raised its response to the level seen earlier this year, even though officials have described the current wave of infections as the most severe so far.

Among Sunday’s 38 new confirmed cases, 30 were locally transmitted and the source of infection in 13 cases was unknown. The city now has a Covid-19 tally of 1,469 cases, with seven related deaths.

The government has yet to respond to mounting calls for the Hong Kong Book Fair on Wednesday to be postponed, and for school examinations to be cancelled after it ordered the suspension of classes.

While a group of exhibitors renewed appeals for the book fair to be postponed, and bus operator KMB announced it would pull out of the event, organiser the Trade Development Council said it was still in discussions with stakeholders.

On another worrying note, Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) medical school, said he believed there were at least 50 to 60 hidden cases in the community, as an international study indicated mutations in one strain of the virus had increased its infection rate by 30 per cent.