Hong Kong opens quarantine camp to Covid-19 patients, allows home isolation for close contacts as caseload hits record 614
- City leader to meet top advisers on Tuesday to discuss tightening social-distancing measures even further
- Chinese University’s Professor Kwok Kin-on predicts daily confirmed case count will soon reach 1,000
Warning that the Omicron-fuelled fifth wave of the pandemic was spiralling out of control, officials laid out plans to begin sending infected people to Penny’s Bay from Tuesday and allow home quarantine for close contacts whose flats were approved as suitable for isolation.
The city’s leader will also meet her top advisers on Tuesday to discuss further tightening social-distancing measures to address the infection surge, partly blamed on Lunar New Year celebratory gatherings. Tougher steps could entail expanding the use of the vaccine pass to cover shopping malls and public transport.
Officials on Monday confirmed 614 infections – the highest daily figure since the pandemic started more than two years ago – and recorded over 600 preliminary-positive cases, nearly double the previous day’s figures.
More than 500 untraceable cases have been recorded so far, reflecting transmission chains in the community that authorities are racing against time to pin down.
Health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the exponential growth of the fifth wave had already begun, while an expert warned that the city would be dealing with 1,000 daily cases soon.
“The situation will worsen if residents continue social gatherings as usual; we must stay at home,” Chan told a radio show.