Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader John Lee back at work after testing negative for Covid 2 days in a row following infection

Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has returned to office following two successive negative Covid-19 tests, a week after he came down with the coronavirus upon returning from a high-level trade summit in Thailand.

“This morning, the rapid test continued to show one line and has been negative for two consecutive days. After I registered with the Department of Health’s system, I was assured that my travel vaccination pass has been changed to a blue code,” Lee wrote on Facebook on Sunday, referring to the city’s colour-coded pandemic system.

A blue code indicates the user can gain access to venues citywide.

The chief executive said he returned to office at 9am on Sunday to prepare for the week ahead.

Lee was confirmed positive for Covid-19 on Monday and went into quarantine after returning from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok.

His polymerase chain reaction test conducted at the airport when he landed last Sunday night was positive. The government on Monday said he had a “mild fever” and a “slight sore throat”.

Health officials on Sunday confirmed 8,033 infections, including 503 imported ones, and 20 deaths related to the virus. Daily cases have been hovering above the 8,000 mark recently, roughly double the figure at the start of the month.

A cluster at Castle Peak Hospital now involved four patients, three of who showed symptoms.

Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling was among the newly infected and was currently undergoing isolation, officials said. Fan last went to work on Saturday, according to an authority spokesman.

Hong Kong leader tests positive for Covid, calls off meeting with top advisers

In addition, 11 residential care homes for the elderly and one care home for people with disabilities reported 15 residents and a staff member tested positive to Covid-19.

Authorities have warned of a potential strain on the healthcare system as more elderly residents could become ill during the approaching cold weather, but stressed that changes in how public healthcare resources were used across the city meant they were better prepared for any further increases in case numbers.

Authorities said the German-made bivalent shot against Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the dominant strains in the city, could be given as a fourth dose or a third one for recovered individuals from Thursday.

About 770,000 doses of the second-generation booster by BioNTech arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday, the first batch of 1.9 million jabs procured by the government, with the rest expected to arrive by the end of the year.

Those aged 60 or above may choose their preferred vaccine type on-site without booking online. But people who have not been vaccinated or received the suitable number of doses are not allowed to opt for the bivalent formula.

A government spokesperson said 11,600 people had registered for the shot as of 7pm.

Online bookings for new Omicron-specific vaccine in Hong Kong to open on Sunday

Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan reiterated her call for parents to arrange shots for their children, pointing to the low vaccination rate of about 20 per cent of children aged below three.

“Following the launch of the vaccination service for the BioNTech bivalent vaccine, members of the public will have more vaccination options,” she said. “We hope that more parents could understand the importance and urgency of Covid-19 vaccination … and consider carefully the health risks faced by their children without protection conferred by the vaccine and the effects brought by serious illness from Covid-19 infection or the after-effects of ‘post Covid-19 condition’ on them.”

The city’s Covid-19 tally stands at 2,094,095 cases with 10,692 related deaths.