avatar image
Advertisement

Covid-19: Hong Kong logs 20 new cases and officials hint at possibly reopening border if enough residents get vaccinated

  • Health secretary says mass immunisation will help the city bring back cross-border travel and kick-start its economic recovery
  • Daily numbers rise for third day in a row but health boss says it’s too early to say if there has been a rebound after Lunar New Year

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
47
The Hong Kong public is being urged to engage in the Covid-19 vaccine campaign starting this week. Photo: May Tse
Daily coronavirus infections rose for the third day in a row in Hong Kong on Sunday, with 20 cases recorded, as senior officials hinted at the possibility of reopening the city’s borders if enough people were vaccinated.

The rising caseloads, from a low of eight cases on Thursday, followed a warning by top epidemiologist Professor Gabriel Leung, who said the reproductive rate of the virus – the number of people an infected person could pass Covid-19 on to – had risen for four consecutive days to 0.67.

“For some of the cases with an unknown origin, we can’t be sure if they are related to Lunar New Year. But some patients have had gatherings over that period,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch. “It’s difficult to say if there is … a rebound. We still have to observe.”

All but one of Sunday’s cases were locally transmitted, with six of them untraceable. This took the overall local tally to 10,868, of whom 197 have died. More than 10 people tested preliminary-positive for the virus.

02:06

Coronavirus Hong Kong: first Covid-19 vaccines land in city

Coronavirus Hong Kong: first Covid-19 vaccines land in city

Four of the local cases related to the infection cluster at Caritas Lok Yi School, a special needs institution that has a total of five infections so far. The latest patients involved a student, a staff member, and two family members of students.

Zoe Low
Zoe Low joined the Post in 2018 and is a reporter. Previously, she was an intern at The News Lens International in Taipei, covering Taiwan-China relations and foreign policy and social issues around Asia and Southeast Asia. She graduated from the London School of Economics and the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
Victor Ting is a reporter who covers Hong Kong health and welfare news at the Post.
Kathleen joined the Post as a reporter in 2019 and covers Hong Kong's economy, tourism and retail. Previously, she was an intern at Asian Private Banker. She graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a degree in politics and journalism.
Advertisement