Coronavirus: Hong Kong health expert slams new 14-day quarantine for discharged patients as ‘unethical’, rights group urges cash support

HKU epidemiologist blasts new requirement as a ‘waste of resources’, as local group warns low-income residents risk losing jobs during isolation period

City, meanwhile, confirms five new imported Covid-19 infections, taking pandemic tally to 12,335 cases

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A new 14-day quarantine requirement for recovered Covid-19 patients has been slammed as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘unethical’ by a local health expert. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 5:13pm, 27 Oct 2021Updated: 6:10pm, 28 Oct 2021

A leading Hong Kong health expert has labelled a new 14-day quarantine requirement for recovered Covid-19 patients as “unethical”, while a major patients’ rights group has suggested the government should offer cash payments for low-income residents forced to undergo it.

Professor Benjamin Cowling of the University of Hong Kong, a top epidemiologist in the city, on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the policy change – aimed at easing Beijing concerns and reopening the border – branding it “ridiculous” and “unethical”.

Speaking out on Twitter, Cowling said the policy was a “waste of resources and actively harming the patient with no community benefit to offset against”.

“That makes it unethical surely,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t also apply to ‘re-positives’, that would be even more ridiculous”.

The Patients’ Rights Association, a group championing medical causes with a focus on underprivileged residents, meanwhile, warned that authorities risked discouraging low-income patients from getting tested for fear of being locked up for a sustained period of time without pay.