Coronavirus: calls for Hong Kong to tighten rules for returning residents as variant clusters grow over the border
- As neighbouring Guangdong struggles to contain a resurgence of cases, talks on reopening the border with Hong Kong take back seat, mainland official admits
- In Hong Kong, where seven new cases emerged, health experts warn the border crossing scheme for residents presents pandemic risks for the city
The warning came as an official source from the mainland told the Post that plans to reopen the border with Hong Kong would be pushed back even further since the Guangdong government had prioritised its efforts to contain the growing outbreak in the province, given the challenge authorities were facing in tackling coronavirus variants and detect asymptomatic cases.
The Guangdong government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said any progress so far in border-reopening discussions would “definitely be affected”, as provincial authorities were busy containing the spread of clusters in the major cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen with tighter quarantine and lockdown measures.
Four more Covid-19 infections, including one asymptomatic case, were reported in Guangzhou on Sunday, taking the city’s total since May 21 to 98 cases. Mass testing of more than 18 million people, including those screened more than once, has uncovered at least six positive cases over the past three days.
Shenzhen reported one more infection on Sunday.
The mainland official said the Delta variant that was first reported in India and recently identified in Guangzhou was “something totally different” from the strains previously found in the city, rendering ineffective some previous control efforts, such as asking people to stay at least 1 metre apart from each other.