Coronavirus: rules for Hong Kong schools eased to allow two-thirds of pupils back on site after Easter; city logs 11 new cases
- Education Bureau announces two-thirds of student population in schools and kindergartens will be allowed to return once holiday ends; church gatherings may be permitted to resume before Easter, source says
- Review of existing curbs comes as city reports three local infections, including one from untraceable sources
Covid-19 restrictions on in-person classes would be further eased to allow as many as two-thirds of pupils to return to schools after Easter, the Hong Kong government said on Friday, while 11 new coronavirus cases were confirmed.
The Post also learned that officials were considering allowing church gatherings in time for the holiday, with the decision dependent on the coronavirus situation stabilising over the next few days.
The review of existing curbs came as the city reported three local infections, including one untraceable case. Eight cases were imported from Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan. All but one of the imported infections involved a mutant strain of the coronavirus, taking the total number of such cases identified in Hong Kong to 128.
The city’s tally of confirmed infections stood at 11,439, while the death of a 78-year-old man with chronic disease at Tuen Mun Hospital pushed the number of related fatalities to 205. Fewer than 10 preliminary-positive cases were reported.
The sole untraceable infection involved a 38-year-old Japanese flight attendant. But she had not been at work since last November and stayed in Hong Kong. She lives in a subdivided flat in Causeway Bay and around 10 other tenants will be quarantined. A compulsory testing order was issued for the building.
She received her first dose of the BioNTech vaccine on March 15 but health authorities said the woman was likely to have contracted the virus before she took the jab.