Coronavirus: health chief to weigh experts’ call for Hong Kong to ease curbs and build natural immunity through infections; city logs 3,762 cases

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau acknowledges suggestions from HKU experts, two of whom are government advisers, but sounds note of caution

He also reassures public on privacy protection in proposed health code system

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Hongkongers in Causeway Bay. The city has seen a surge in daily coronavirus infections. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 2:54pm, 16 Jul 2022Updated: 8:55pm, 16 Jul 2022

Hong Kong’s health minister has said he will consider suggestions by experts to ease pandemic curbs while building immunity among the local population through vaccination and Covid-19 exposure, warning however that “policymaking does not depend on a certain theory”.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau pointed out that the vaccination rate for the elderly and children under three remained relatively low, adding that the capacity of the city’s medical system would have to be considered in relaxing rules.

Lo was responding on Saturday to four University of Hong Kong pandemic experts, including two government advisers, who called for authorities to move towards population immunity via a combination of vaccination and natural infection, allowing a return to normalcy despite a recent surge in caseloads.

They urged the gradual lifting of social-distancing measures for some degree of exposure to Covid-19 to build immunity among residents before winter, while the city waited for Omicron-targeted booster jabs.

Hong Kong Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau. Photo: Nora Tam

Their recommendations were based on an earlier data model that 4-5 million people out of the city’s 7.4 million population had at some point been infected.