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Hong Kong reopens: life after quarantine
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People leave the Penny’s Bay isolation centre on Lantau Island on Monday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang

Coronavirus: Covid patients head for exits as Hong Kong ends mandatory isolation, but shuttle bus drivers worry about infection risks

  • Dozens of patients took shuttle buses from Penny’s Bay isolation centre to a drop-off point at Tsing Yi MTR station on Monday morning
  • Hundreds allowed to leave camp after midnight when one of city’s last remaining pandemic control measures ended
Covid-19 patients welcomed the end of Hong Kong’s mandatory isolation policy for positive cases on Monday but some shuttle bus drivers expressed concern, fearing they could easily become infected when taking people from quarantine facilities.

Dozens of patients took shuttle buses from the Penny’s Bay isolation centre on Lantau Island to a drop-off point at Tsing Yi MTR station in the morning, with hundreds allowed to leave the camp after midnight when one of the city’s last remaining pandemic control measures ended after three years.

“There are very few people in the isolation centre now,” said Aini R, a 29-year-old Indonesian domestic helper, who was the only passenger on her shuttle bus. She received her second negative result in the morning and left the facility.

“I feel very happy I can leave the centre because I have stayed there for too long. I even felt scared at night since it was too cold and quiet,” she said, adding that she was not notified of the new policy in the camp.

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Eerie silence falls on Hong Kong's Covid camps as city prepares to end mandatory isolation

Eerie silence falls on Hong Kong's Covid camps as city prepares to end mandatory isolation

Apple Lo, a 60-year-old retiree, decided to go home after two days of isolation even though he was still testing positive.

“[On Sunday], my wife told me on the phone that it is okay to return home, so I decided to leave the centre,” said Lo, who was only wearing an N95 mask for protection.

Asked whether he would self-quarantine, Lo said he would not impose “very strong measures” since his symptoms were mild and with “no pain in his body”.

“But I will not go to restaurants unless I turn negative,” Lo added. “I will buy takeaway these days in case I cause transmissions.”

Covid patients at Hong Kong isolation facilities to leave as mandatory stays end

Transport worker Galen Chan, who turned negative on Monday, was also at the drop-off point. Under the new rules he was free to leave the camp, rather than having to provide negative results for two days in a row.

But the 29-year-old said he would not return home because the only reason he chose to stay in the quarantine centre was to protect his family.

“I have already booked a hotel for several days until I am fully recovered,” Chan said, adding the new policy would not affect those in the camp much as “very few people” were there now.

“I think it’s a good thing for Hong Kong that our society is slowly opening up,” Chan said.

The Penny’s Bay centre is one of two isolation sites still open. Photo: Sam Tsang

Derek Tsoi, a 43-year-old father who went into the isolation camp on Thursday to take care of his infected daughter, chose to stay there despite the new policy.

His daughter, who spent her 10th birthday in the camp on Saturday, still tested positive on Monday morning.

“There is an elderly person at my home and I’m worried they will get infected, and so we choose to stay,” said Tsoi, who has been negative so far.

He said he had not noticed any change in rules at the camp, and saw no one stepping out of their rooms. Staff were also in full protection gear when handing out items.

Tsoi said he was told by camp staff they could only stay there for seven days, meaning they would have to leave on Wednesday even if his daughter was still infected.

Hong Kong bosses taking no chances with infected staff even as isolation is axed

But not everyone was satisfied with the new arrangements, including shuttle bus drivers who were worried about transmission risks while ferrying patients to the drop-off point.

“[The authorities are] disrespecting us. They let us go straight to pick up [the passengers] without giving us any extra protection and I cannot accept this,” a shuttle bus driver named Andy Wong told the Post with intense emotions.

Wong said protection such as hazmat suits, masks and plastic curtains was not given to the drivers and the isolation centre just asked them to keep doing their job.

According to the Post’s observations, only one driver in six of the shuttle buses wore a hazmat suit, and most of the vehicles did not have extra protection. Both negative and positive cases took buses together, under the new policy.

Positive and negative cases are no longer separated on shuttle buses. Photo: Sam Tsang

“Previously, the buses taking positive and negative patients were separate, and the ‘positive buses’ had protection, but now we are transporting positive patients without any measures,” Wong added.

“All I can do is ask the passengers whether they are negative, but they don’t need to provide any proof now, so how should I know what they said is true?”

The Post has contacted the isolation centre for comment.

Top adviser urges review of Hong Kong’s handling of Covid only after pandemic

Authorities will use the Penny’s Bay camp and Novotel Citygate hotel in Tung Chung for isolation until the end of next month, but stays are capped at seven days.

The government dropped all social-distancing measures on December 29 and quarantine-free travel with mainland China resumed on January 8, which leaves only two major measures in place – the mask mandate and mandatory testing for arrivals, students and care home residents.

In announcing the end to the five-day isolation requirement more than a week ago, the government said the coronavirus would be treated as a regular upper respiratory tract infection.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung

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