Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s fourth wave ‘could be the worst yet’ as city aims for enough Covid-19 vaccine shots to cover double city’s population
- Government reserves HK$8.4 billion for vaccine procurement as it unveils strategy for warding off potential fourth wave of coronavirus
- Ministers fear next rush of Covid-19 cases could be the worst the city has ever seen
Key points
• HK$8.4 billion set aside to procure enough vaccine shots for two times the population
• Regular testing for high-risk groups with daily capacity increased to tens of thousands
• Quarantine facilities with at least 4,000 units to be ready by the end of this year, including at Penny’s Bay, Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village and hotels
• Temporary hospital next to AsiaWorld-Expo to be completed in four months
• To step up enforcement of social distancing at restaurants and pubs, police and hygiene officers to join forces this weekend
• Digital platform created to consolidate data and speed up contact tracing among government departments
Under the fight against a potential fourth wave of infections, a new round of targeted Covid-19 testing was launched on Friday with the screening of care home staff, while police would this weekend join environmental hygiene officers to enforce social-distancing curbs at restaurants and pubs.
Health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee warned the next rush of coronavirus cases in the city could be even worse than the existing one, Hong Kong’s deadliest amid the health crisis so far.
The city recorded three new infections on Friday and the death of an 81-year-old male resident of Fung Shing Nursing Home in Kwai Chung. The sources of the two local infections were traceable while the third case was imported. The tally now stood at 4,996 cases with 103 related deaths.
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“The number of third wave infections is declining very slowly, with the fourth wave possibly coming in winter, which could be even more severe than the third,” Chan said.
“The measures will not eradicate the virus without the vaccine but will avoid major outbreaks in the community.”
