Covid-19: No decision made on further easing of Hong Kong hotel quarantine rules, leader John Lee says
- Chief Executive John Lee also denies any internal conflict among officials during discussions on Covid-19 strategy
- Officials reveal new cluster has emerged involving seven cardiologists at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday also denied that his top officials were in disagreement over the strategy to combat the pandemic, contrary to claims in a news report last week.
“In the fight against the pandemic, the government team is united,” he told a press briefing ahead of the first Executive Council meeting since the summer recess.
“Our working relationship is pleasant and good. We will discuss all the pros and cons during our discussion, and the team will be consistent when implementing policies.”
The number of daily infections recorded in Hong Kong fell below the 10,000-mark on Tuesday, with the city reporting 9,373 new cases, 186 of which were imported, and nine additional deaths.
The daily figure included 1,516 infections at 767 schools, with 45 institutions advised to suspend face-to-face lessons for affected classes for one week.
According to health officials, a new cluster involving seven cardiologists at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital had developed since Sunday. They added the doctors had not attended any social gatherings together, but all of them had used the same pantry at the hospital.
In response to the cluster, the Hospital Authority said it would redistribute medical staff from other facilities to help those at the healthcare facility in Chai Wan, adding some non-emergency services would be suspended there. No patients were identified as close contacts, it said.
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Lee’s comments followed a Bloomberg report last Thursday which cited “people” as saying the city’s leader hoped to end hotel quarantine by November, ahead of a high-powered bankers’ summit and the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament that month, but officials were split on the move.
Health minister Lo Chung-mau hit out at the news report, questioning the professionalism of the media outlet behind it and deploring the potential negative impact on efforts to combat the coronavirus.
Asked whether the existing “3+4” policy for arrivals – three days of hotel quarantine followed by four of “home medical surveillance” – could be cut to “0+7” by November, Lee on Tuesday said the government had not yet come to a decision on any further measures that could be relaxed at the moment.
“In regard to what we’ll do in future months, as regards the number of quarantine days, we’ll have to assess it based on the number of infected cases and how the transmission will be happening,” he said. “We’ll have to make [an] assessment and when we … come to a conclusion, we’ll make an announcement.”
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Lee added that he was concerned by recent daily virus figures, which have surpassed the 10,000-mark four times in six days, noting the surge could be life-threatening to high-risk groups and place further pressure on the city’s strained healthcare system.
He also sought to defend his controversial plan to extend the city’s vaccine pass scheme to children as young as five, which will require youngsters to be inoculated with two jabs before they are allowed into restaurants and government premises such as libraries and markets.
The plan drew the ire of children’s rights groups, which argued it would be detrimental to youngsters’ development.
The city’s leader said the purpose of vaccination was to protect children from getting into “dire situations” and all scientific evidence indicated the best protection from falling seriously ill was to get inoculated.
“Just this month, we have about 20 cases of children suffering from serious conditions as a result of the infection, and unfortunately one passed away,” Lee said. “We don’t want to see that happen because losing such a life in the family is a very sad and horrific experience.
“We hope everyone will understand the importance of vaccination in protecting themselves and … realise that inoculation would not only help resume their normal daily lives but also make it more convenient for them.”
The government also announced it would cancel fireworks displays commemorating National Day on October 1, citing the epidemic situation, while the city’s existing social-distancing measures would be extended for another two weeks until September 21.
“It is expected that the number of cases will continue to be high in the short term,” a government spokesman said, adding that authorities had refrained from tightening the current curbs to support social and economic activities in the city.
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Lee said last week that authorities in mainland China had given their preliminary support to allow Hong Kong residents to quarantine in the city before they crossed the border, due to a shortage of hotel rooms on the other side. The city’s leader on Tuesday noted that talks on the issue were still under way with mainland authorities.
“The [local] government has come up with issues we think need to be discussed, including the standard of polymerase chain reaction tests and how people can be sent to the mainland in a closed-loop after completing the reverse quarantine … as well as the manpower deployment on both sides,” he said.
Lee added that the mainland and Hong Kong were focused on containing Covid-19 and more time was needed to discuss a possible change to the current arrangements.
Hong Kong’s coronavirus tally stood at 1,601,793 cases and 9,741 related fatalities.
