Hong Kong fourth wave: Covid-19 daily caseload drops to 12, while officials warn against misplaced optimism

Hong Kong’s daily coronavirus caseload fell to a three-month low of 12 infections on Saturday, as the city’s No 2 official described as encouraging an uptick in downloads of a contact-tracing app and sought to allay privacy concerns.

But health authorities warned the dip in cases should be viewed with caution, saying fewer screenings were expected over the Lunar New Year holiday when people were hesitant to visit doctors and most private clinics were closed. They stressed silent transmissions remained a threat, pointing to a fresh outbreak at a youth centre in Kowloon that involved one of the two latest untraceable cases. Residents in four buildings were also issued with mandatory testing orders.

The rolling seven-day average of local infections had fallen to 20.1 as of Friday, down sharply from a peak of 75 in late January, while the figure for untraceable cases was 6.1, said Director of Health Dr Constance Chan Hon-yee. But she warned against misplaced optimism.

“Although the number of new cases recorded is relatively low, it could be related to many clinics being closed and some people being reluctant to visit a doctor during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Chan said. “That is why I appeal to the community that if they have any symptoms, no matter how mild … they must see a doctor as soon as possible.”

Two of the new cases involved arrivals from Britain and the Philippines, while fewer than 10 people tested preliminary-positive. The overall tally of confirmed cases stood at 10,767, while the number of related fatalities stood at 193 after a 60-year-old man succumbed to the disease on Friday night.

The city recorded 12 cases on November 19, and nine cases on November 18.

Authorities are investigating the outbreak at the Children and Youth Integrated Services Centre at Lung Poon Court Commercial Centre in Tsz Wan Shan. The two carriers, one of whom is a welfare worker, attended group activities at the facility, which is run by the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association, on February 3, according to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection. A volunteer who took part in the activities tested preliminary-positive.

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“They all wore masks during the activities,” Chuang said. “Both cases had an onset of symptoms on February 7, so it is possible [they were] also infectious during the other few days.”

More than 10 people, including volunteers and staff members, who attended the activities were ordered into quarantine, and the centre was told to close for two weeks for deep cleaning.

The other untraceable case was a security guard who had worked at Bowrington Road Market in Causeway Bay between February 6 and 8, and at the high-speed rail terminus in West Kowloon on February 10.

Two of the preliminary-positive cases were visitors with expired visas who held recognisance forms and were staying at Mirador Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui. They were said to have told authorities they were unemployed and arrived in the city in July and October last year, respectively, Chuang said. They knew two other confirmed patients, one who lived in the same building and another in Tsim Sha Tsui Mansion, which was among the four buildings issued mandatory screening orders. The others were Lung Wah Building in Tsuen Wan, Kellie Mansion in Diamond Hill and 286 Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei.

Another preliminary case involved a hair stylist working at Radio Television Hong Kong. Those who used her service will have to be quarantined, while the public broadcaster said deep cleaning of the affected area would be carried out, but most programmes were unaffected.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said earlier the pandemic would be deemed under control when the daily infection tally fell into the single digits, allowing the border with mainland China and many local businesses to reopen. He noted that 644,000 people, or about 8.6 per cent of the city’s population, had installed the “Leave Home Safe” app, up from about 470,000 people in early February.

“This is a good indicator and shows more residents are gradually downloading it. I believe there will still be a surge in the next few days,” he said.

Health authorities this week announced that social-distancing rules could be relaxed after Lunar New Year from February 18 if the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong remained stable. The plan would allow restaurants to offer dine-in service later into the night with four people to a table, while gyms, cinemas and other premises could reopen.

But operators would have to follow new measures to prevent the spread of the disease, including requiring patrons to scan the app or provide their personal details.

Leaders in industries such as catering, however, have raised concerns over the implementation of the new rules, saying businesses were not law enforcement agencies and questioning how they would handle customers who refused to cooperate.

Cheung sought to reassure businesses worried about the implications of the app, saying a culture shift within the community surrounding anti-contagion measures would take time.

“The government is not trying to know what residents are doing. We just want to know who was present at the venues at a specific time,” he said.

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The contact-tracing app allows users to scan a QR code at different locations to log their movements. It notifies users if a person confirmed as infected has recently visited those places.

Cheung appealed to residents to remain vigilant in guarding against the virus during what he called a critical few days over Lunar New Year.

“Even if we can’t reach zero cases, when we can get to a very low figure, a single-digit figure for infections in a stable manner … that means the pandemic is under control. Under such a situation, we will have the conditions to reopen our borders and to allow many venues to resume their operations,” he said.

Asked whether vaccination would be a condition for allowing easier travel to the mainland and other destinations, Cheung said he would not rule out the idea, but the key was whether it was acceptable to the Chinese government.

On Thursday, representatives from the tourism sector and local delegates to the National People’s Congress said they had urged the central and local governments to allow Hongkongers to take day trips to the mainland to be inoculated without having to undergo quarantine.

Addressing the calls, Cheung said the proposal’s feasibility would also depend on the views of authorities over the border.

City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meanwhile visited several parts of the city, including the Sham Shui Po Sports Ground, where officials briefed the chief executive on the latest preventive measures adopted at sports facilities, including the scanning of the tracing QR app.