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Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Photo: Edmond So

Coronavirus: mass testing for all Hong Kong residents in March, school pupils to have early summer holiday, city leader says

  • City will uphold its stringent social-distancing measures until April 20; flight bans on nine countries extended immediately
  • All schools will have their summer holiday in early March until April 18; residents to be tested three times within short period
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Key points:

– Under compulsory universal testing, three mandatory tests to be conducted in March and scheduled based on residents’ birth year, with bookings required

– KN95 masks and rapid testing kits to be provided for residents to screen themselves between compulsory tests

– July-August summer holiday brought forward to March-April for students; schools will be used as testing, isolation and vaccination venues; DSE exams still planned for April 22

– Travellers from nine countries, including via transit, banned from returning to the city until April 20

– Closure of specified premises, including bars, nightclubs, gyms and hair salons, under current social-distancing rules extended until April 20

– Diners in restaurants capped at two per table; ban on evening dine-in services extended until April 20

– Interval between second and third Covid-19 jab may be shortened

Hong Kong will conduct compulsory Covid-19 testing on its entire population of 7.4 million next month to tackle the fifth wave of infections, with the plan set to bring many aspects of life to a standstill until at least mid-April.

Residents will be required to undergo three such rounds of testing over a likely period of 15 or 21 days while some of the toughest social-distancing measures – including a newly tightened rule limiting diners to two per table in all restaurants – will remain in force until April 20.

Schools will be used as testing, isolation and vaccination venues as students are sent for their summer holidays in early March until April 17. The last day of the school year will then be pushed back to August 12.

03:16

Hong Kong police mobilised in Covid-19 battle as new infections exceed 7,500

Hong Kong police mobilised in Covid-19 battle as new infections exceed 7,500

Announcing the measures on Tuesday as part of a road map to win the battle against the pandemic, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insisted the mass testing would not entail a citywide lockdown as a large number of people still had to go out for work, especially those involved in anti-epidemic efforts.

Some public services would be put on hold, however, over this period, she said, adding that more details of the screening would be disclosed later.

Along with such moves, existing flight bans on nine countries will also be extended to April 20. The nine countries are Australia, Britain, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines and the United States.

Hong Kong hospital chief says mainland doctors’ help needed to fight fifth wave

On Tuesday, the city confirmed another 6,211 Covid-19 cases and reported 39 more deaths. A senior official had also warned that daily infections had increased 64-fold compared with the start of the month.

“[The fifth wave] is an unprecedented challenge,” Lam said. “I cannot answer whether this wave will definitely be contained within two to three months. We hope to make full use of the next two or three months because it is critical. We probably have not seen the peak of this wave.”

The summer holidays will be brought forward. Photo: May Tse

She said the worsening situation could be shown by a rise in the number of infected residents found in lockdown operations in buildings, growing from 0.5 per cent earlier to 2 per cent recently – meaning 20 people in every 1,000 tested positive. In two extreme scenarios, the figure even reached 8 per cent.

On the universal screening plan, residents will be tested three times within a short period – perhaps once every five to seven days – according to their birth years. In between these screenings, they will be required to do daily rapid tests. KN95 masks will also be offered to all residents.

Uncooperative residents who do not join the testing will face penalties including fines, and can be traced by disciplined services through their identity card numbers.

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With the support of the central government, the city will be able to set up at least a few hundred testing centres, and conduct 1 million tests every day.

Lam said a “sizeable percentage” of infections was expected to be identified, while those who tested positive would be sent to isolation facilities as staying at home was not a viable option.

She said the central government would offer help by providing testing staff and building large-scale laboratories, while samples would be sent to mainland China for confirmation during the mass screening.

“If we do not have enough testing facilities, then we have to send the samples back to the mainland. This is not related to privacy issues, as no personal information will be put on the bottles, only bar codes. Personal information will be kept in Hong Kong,” she said, adding the government would clear any legal obstacles to make things work.

“We are fighting a war, and in such an emergency situation we should overcome all kinds of legal difficulties instead of worrying about them. That is not a war mentality.”

On the subject of a much-feared citywide lockdown, Lam said Beijing did not issue any instructions for such an operation but only gave all its support for the city at this critical stage.

She said it was entirely a matter for the local administration and that she was responsible for making such a decision under the “one country, two systems” governing principle.

She said more details of the screening would be revealed later, adding: “We will see the rainbow after the storm. I hope we will stay confident.”

Hong Kong has received support from the mainland in the past week to boost its testing and isolation capacity.

On Saturday, a team of mainland epidemic control professionals, including four experts in critical care medicine and 110 nucleic acid testing personnel, arrived in the city. Plans are under way for more than 1,000 personnel to be deployed, according to a source.

Mainland teams would also be coming to Hong Kong to help in the building of more isolation facilities and a makeshift hospital in the Lok Ma Chau Loop area near the border, Lam said, as she revealed at least 30,000 patients were still waiting to be admitted.

By the end of the month, the government will be able to provide 12,000 units from public housing estates and hotels. Another 16,000 will come through converting more hotels and the deserted Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in March.

A mainland team is helping with the construction of a new makeshift isolation facility at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. Photo: Sam Tsang

Five more plots of government and private land in the loop area, Yuen Long and Tsing Yi will be used to build at least 20,000 isolation units. An extra 10,000 units will be built at Penny’s Bay and a site next to the cruise terminal in the next few months.

Lam said construction of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park would not be affected.

Lam also made it clear government bureaus and departments would have to find isolation facilities for their own staff if any got infected.

“Bureaus have to provide isolation facilities for their own staff, as I do not want civil servants to occupy too many isolation facilities that are designated for the public,” she said.

On vaccination, the government aims to reach a 90 per cent rate for first jabs by early March, while the city will be able to administer more than 85,000 doses a day by the end of February with an increase in the number of inoculation centres.

Hong Kong customs seizes 15,000 fake N95 masks, arrests woman after raid

An April target of 90 per cent was set for residents at care homes for the elderly and disabled.

The Department of Health would also soon announce a shortening of the interval between the second and third doses, after discussions with experts on Tuesday morning, she added.

Regarding the city’s rising caseload, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, told a separate press briefing that confirmed case figures were constrained by the capacity of public laboratories. She revealed that actual infections detected by public and private facilities across the city in the past 24 hours had reached 8,013.

Chuang said based on this figure and a review of the month’s numbers, the daily caseload had surged from 126 on February 1, representing a 64-fold increase.

“That means an exponential increase has occurred six times, and happened every three days, so the trend is still going up. Residents must keep their vigilance up, refrain from going out, and work from home,” Chuang warned.

The reported figure refers to the total number of all infections, both confirmed and preliminary, detected by private and public facilities on a particular day, but authorities do not count those found on previous days but yet to be confirmed.

The Hospital Authority said 39 more Covid-19 patients succumbed including seven whose deaths were not reported earlier because of backlogs. They were aged between 45 and 103.

Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager at the authority, said the youngest victim was a bed-bound care home resident with underlying illnesses.

Nineteen patients, aged 56 to 95, were critically ill, while 30 people, aged 41 to 103, were in serious condition.

More details about coronavirus-linked fatalities were disclosed a day after mainland experts suggested the release of information, including the cause of death, vaccination history and underlying chronic illnesses of each individual, would prevent public panic.

The city’s infection tally stands at 66,574, with 360 related deaths.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung, Gary Cheung and Gigi Choy

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