https://www.scmp.com/rss/508156/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com More than 11,000 people took the BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus when distribution resumed on Monday following a nearly two-week suspension due to packaging problems. About 5,200 residents received their first dose, while another 6,500 took their second one. The day before the suspension on March 24, about 14,400 people received their first jab of BioNTech.  The roll-out was suspended on the advice of the German manufacturer and Chinese distributor Fosun Pharma. Frontline staff had... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3128389/coronavirus-hong-kong-vaccine-mix-isolated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3128389/coronavirus-hong-kong-vaccine-mix-isolated?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Apr 2021 12:20:12 +0000 Hong Kong’s coronavirus vaccination programme will be expanded to cover 5.5 million people by lowering the eligibility age threshold to 30, as health authorities give the mass roll-out an extra push amid a falling take-up rate and persistent concerns about possible side-effects. The announcement came on Monday even as experts monitoring the Covid-19 inoculation scheme concluded, based on preliminary findings, that all seven deaths in the past two weeks involving chronically ill patients could... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3125503/coronavirus-55-million-people-now-eligible-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3125503/coronavirus-55-million-people-now-eligible-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Mar 2021 09:12:04 +0000 An expert committee monitoring the side effects of vaccines in Hong Kong is seeking a detailed autopsy report on the death of an elderly man with no public record of chronic illnesses before deciding whether it was linked to the Sinovac Covid-19 shot he received days ago. The committee reached a preliminary conclusion on Monday that there was no connection between the roll-out of the Chinese-made vaccine and the cases of another patient who died recently and two others who had to be taken into... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3124522/coronavirus-hong-kong-leader-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3124522/coronavirus-hong-kong-leader-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Mar 2021 06:09:49 +0000 Hundreds of secondary school pupils are taking full advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to expand their business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. More than 60 student-led companies have created and built products to sell to the public, many of which are themed specifically on Hong Kong culture, bringing an element of local pride to these young entrepreneurs. In a programme spearheaded by Junior Achievement Hong Kong, a local organisation focused on youth empowerment, more than 1,800 students... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3124280/hong-kong-students-boost-business-know-how-and-find?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3124280/hong-kong-students-boost-business-know-how-and-find?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Mar 2021 03:30:07 +0000 Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her top officials on Monday became the first to receive a Covid-19 vaccine in the city, but she insisted only a steady decline of infections, not the mass immunisation scheme, could lead to the relaxation of social distancing. Hailing the vaccination campaign as a “ray of light” in Hong Kong’s year-long pandemic fight, the city’s chief executive said she was “very happy, very excited” to take the jab and urged the public to also get... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3122602/hong-kong-health-minister-defends-easing-social?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3122602/hong-kong-health-minister-defends-easing-social?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Feb 2021 04:56:54 +0000 Hong Kong confirmed nine new Covid-19 cases – a near three-month low – on the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, but officials stressed the drop in infections could just be because fewer people were getting tested over the break. As the daily caseload fell to the lowest since November 18, when nine infections were also recorded, slots at community testing centres filled up for the next three days, with workers rushing to get screened before the anticipated relaxation of social-distancing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3121741/hong-kong-fourth-wave-covid-19-testing-slots-fill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3121741/hong-kong-fourth-wave-covid-19-testing-slots-fill?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Feb 2021 03:31:35 +0000 Hong Kong has lifted an unprecedented lockdown for mandatory Covid-19 testing in one of its most crowded and rundown areas amid questions about its effectiveness, even as the city faces the spectre of an escalating new outbreak in a prominent middle-class neighbourhood. Health experts on Monday were left debating the justification for locking down part of Yau Tsim Mong district to test more than 7,000 residents over a two-day period, which uncovered only 13 coronavirus infections. But those who... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3119101/hong-kong-health-experts-question-if-weekend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3119101/hong-kong-health-experts-question-if-weekend?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Jan 2021 05:27:31 +0000 Hong Kong authorities on Friday ordered the isolation of four old tenement blocks in one of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods to contain an escalating Covid-19 outbreak, taking such a drastic step for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The isolation order effectively locks down all of 20, 22, 24 and 26 Reclamation Street, where 33 infections have been reported in the growing cluster in the Yau Tsim Mong district. Health authorities said many subdivided flats in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117841/hong-kong-fourth-wave-mandatory-covid-19-testing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117841/hong-kong-fourth-wave-mandatory-covid-19-testing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Jan 2021 03:39:13 +0000 Hong Kong health officials are racing to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak in four old tenement blocks amid infection fears and calls by an expert to remove faulty pipes, while the city on Wednesday confirmed 42 new Covid-19 cases. Mandatory testing for residents and recent visitors at the buildings on Reclamation Street in Jordan was ongoing. Four more infections in two homes were also recorded, taking the number of cases to 25 in 13 flats. More than 20 residents were identified as close... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117544/hong-kong-facing-more-40-covid-19-cases-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117544/hong-kong-facing-more-40-covid-19-cases-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Jan 2021 06:54:01 +0000 Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday ordered mandatory testing for residents of four old tenement buildings hit by an expanding cluster of Covid-19 infections, amid a rebound in daily cases that prompted the city’s leader to warn that Lunar New Year celebrations would have to be muted. Seven more residents were confirmed infected in the interconnected buildings along Reclamation Street in Jordan, taking the total there to 21, with some of the cases linked to other recent outbreaks in the city. When... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3117335/coronavirus-carrie-lam-puts-hong-kong-alert-muted-lunar-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3117335/coronavirus-carrie-lam-puts-hong-kong-alert-muted-lunar-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jan 2021 02:31:16 +0000 Hong Kong patients suffering from spinal cord injuries could soon be able to avoid invasive operations with a novel, non-surgically implanted neurostimulator developed by a local university and expected to come on the market in a few years’ time, according to researchers. While using electrical stimulation to help patients with spinal cord injuries was not a new idea, Zheng Yong-ping, the chair professor of biomedical engineering at Polytechnic University, said the novel device was powered by... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117248/novel-device-developed-hong-kong-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117248/novel-device-developed-hong-kong-researchers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jan 2021 23:00:23 +0000 Health experts have warned that Hong Kong could undo its success in containing the fourth wave of the coronavirus if residents continued to pack popular gathering spots heading into the Lunar New Year holiday. The government should consider limiting crowd sizes at shopping centres and wet markets, as well as require mask-wearing at country parks, to keep driving down Covid-19 numbers, they said on Monday, as health authorities revealed another 41 new infections. Fresh cases involved clusters at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117193/hong-kong-fourth-wave-crowd-control-measures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3117193/hong-kong-fourth-wave-crowd-control-measures?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jan 2021 06:10:00 +0000 Household members of Covid-19 patients’ close contacts will be asked to undergo coronavirus tests under a proposal to enhance Hong Kong’s tracing strategy, health officials said, as 25 new infections were recorded on Wednesday, the lowest since mid November. The new proposal was floated as senior officials convened a cross-departmental meeting on Wednesday to set up a new “command centre” to ramp up contact tracing. Hundreds of officers from the disciplined services will be seconded to trace two... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3116595/hong-kong-fourth-wave-more-20-new-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3116595/hong-kong-fourth-wave-more-20-new-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jan 2021 04:52:19 +0000 Public hospitals in Hong Kong will strengthen measures against Covid-19 by requiring anyone intending to stay at day wards to undergo screening for the virus before being admitted and ask patients who visit for regular procedures to submit to weekly tests. The fresh measures were aimed at preventing the spread of the disease after two facilities were hit with outbreaks, authorities said on Tuesday, as they revealed 32 new cases. Four people tied to the cluster at Princess Margaret Hospital Kwai... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3116492/hong-kong-fourth-wave-public-hospitals-could?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3116492/hong-kong-fourth-wave-public-hospitals-could?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jan 2021 07:35:30 +0000 A Covid-19 patient has been identified in a housing block where Hong Kong’s pilot sewage surveillance scheme found traces of the coronavirus, just days after cases were uncovered in another building in the same estate. While announcing another 68 confirmed coronavirus cases on New Year’s Eve, health officials also revealed that for the first time a mutated strain of the virus seen in South Africa had been found in an arrival from that country. Officials also admitted that a public hospital had,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115986/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-expects-around-70-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115986/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-expects-around-70-new?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Dec 2020 07:46:32 +0000 The punishment meted out by a Chinese court to 10 Hong Kong fugitives has reopened divisions across the political divide as mainland lawyers and pro-establishment politicians insisted the defendants had been shown leniency, while opposition activists and other legal professionals decried the “chilling effect” of the sentences. The 10 fugitives, who mainland authorities arrested at sea as they tried to flee Taiwan in August, were sentenced to between seven months and three years’ jail by a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3115889/did-chinese-court-go-too-far-punishing-10-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3115889/did-chinese-court-go-too-far-punishing-10-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 13:00:18 +0000 Ten Hong Kong fugitives arrested at sea in August by mainland Chinese authorities while trying to flee to Taiwan were sentenced to between seven months and three years in jail by a Shenzhen court on Wednesday, while two other underage suspects were handed over to the city’s police. Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, the only woman in the group, were convicted of organising the illegal crossing of the border by all 10, while the other eight were found guilty of doing so, according to an announcement by... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3115767/two-underage-suspects-be-turned-over-hong-kong-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3115767/two-underage-suspects-be-turned-over-hong-kong-police?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 02:03:28 +0000 About 70 per cent of Hong Kong restaurants polled have said they face closures in the next three months amid tightened social-distancing measures rolled out to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The Institution of Dining Art said on Tuesday a similar percentage of respondents also planned to lay off staff in the coming quarter. The industry body surveyed 136 catering businesses in mid-December and found 19.9 per cent of them had either closed or were facing the threat of closure. The findings showed... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3115722/hong-kong-covid-19-fourth-wave-about-70-cent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3115722/hong-kong-covid-19-fourth-wave-about-70-cent?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 12:30:18 +0000 Two or more unrelated Covid-19 infections over a 14-day period in any housing block will trigger a mandatory testing order for everyone in the building under a lower threshold to contain outbreaks, Hong Kong health authorities announced on Tuesday. They also revealed that three hidden coronavirus carriers had been detected through a pilot sewage monitoring system, and warned that genetic analysis showed five recently imported infections carried a new, highly transmissible variant of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115674/hong-kong-fourth-wave-more-50-covid-19-cases?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115674/hong-kong-fourth-wave-more-50-covid-19-cases?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 07:29:10 +0000 With more residential blocks in Hong Kong hit by Covid-19 outbreaks in recent months, design issues at public housing estates have increasingly become a cause for concern, with experts pointing to problems such as inadequate drainage systems, especially in older buildings. The Post spoke with architects and engineers to find out what residents can do to safeguard their living environment and hence their health. Here’s what they had to say. How long can the coronavirus survive on different... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115569/coronavirus-how-hongkongers-can-safeguard-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115569/coronavirus-how-hongkongers-can-safeguard-their?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 03:00:18 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic has affected Hongkongers from all walks of life. Since the first infections in January, the highly transmissible virus has quietly spread to the wider community through silent carriers. People have been infected with the coronavirus at places of worship, care homes for the elderly, workplaces that share common facilities, hospital wards, and even dancing studios frequented by the city’s upper classes. Here is a look at major Covid-19 clusters that caught city residents off... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115575/temples-dance-halls-covid-19-clusters-cut-across?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115575/temples-dance-halls-covid-19-clusters-cut-across?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Dec 2020 23:00:12 +0000 A pilot sewage monitoring system in Hong Kong to detect Covid-19 has found “sustained and reliable” evidence of the coronavirus from a public housing block, authorities said on Monday as they ordered over 700 households to undergo mandatory testing. Details of the new coronavirus-detection drive were unveiled on a day that the city confirmed 61 new cases of Covid-19, and health officials said public hospitals’ infection-control rules would be overhauled amid an expanding outbreak at United... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115515/hong-kong-fourth-wave-covid-19-sewage-samples?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115515/hong-kong-fourth-wave-covid-19-sewage-samples?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Dec 2020 04:02:09 +0000 Robotic dogs are the latest addition to a line-up of technological innovations designed to collect data on potential landslides in Hong Kong, which authorities have warned could happen at any time. Pun Wai-keong, the outgoing head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office, issued the warning on Saturday as he summed up his 35 years with the department and introduced the new technologies aimed at strengthening preventive measures against landslides. Pun said the office had commissioned two of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115415/robotic-dogs-smart-barriers-among-new-landslide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115415/robotic-dogs-smart-barriers-among-new-landslide?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Dec 2020 23:00:17 +0000 The coronavirus was not first reported in Hong Kong, but the city has made some of the world’s earliest Covid-19 discoveries – including infection in a dog, reinfection in a recovered patient, and a quarantine-free travel bubble with Singapore that was put on hold at the last minute as Hong Kong cases surged. The city’s scientists were also the first in the world to develop a nasal vaccine. Approved for clinical trials in September, it was the first nasal spray Covid-19 vaccine to be tested in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115363/coronavirus-dog-burst-travel-bubble-nasal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3115363/coronavirus-dog-burst-travel-bubble-nasal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Dec 2020 11:00:21 +0000 Large-scale evacuations of coronavirus-stricken housing estates may be delaying the quarantining of other residents in Hong Kong, a senior health official has said. The admission on Friday came after a 62-year-old woman ordered to undergo screening was found dead in her home before she could be moved into isolation as planned. A postmortem test confirmed she had Covid-19. The delay was the latest sign of the strain the fourth wave of the pandemic is putting on health resources, although the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3114474/hong-kong-fourth-wave-quarantine-backlog-fears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3114474/hong-kong-fourth-wave-quarantine-backlog-fears?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Dec 2020 06:02:44 +0000 Free Covid-19 tests will be offered to Hong Kong’s 390,000 foreign domestic helpers in a bid to contain an emerging outbreak among migrant workers that could complicate pandemic control. Public health experts urged the government to regulate boarding houses for migrant workers, as the city confirmed another 82 infections on Wednesday, and residents of more public estates were placed under mandatory testing and quarantine orders. A partial evacuation was also ordered for a housing block in Wong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3114170/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-braces-around-80-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3114170/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-braces-around-80-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Dec 2020 07:57:22 +0000 Fears that clusters of Covid-19 could be spreading across Hong Kong are mounting after an outbreak at a domestic helpers’ boarding house, while mandatory testing was ordered at two housing blocks as 98 new infections and three more deaths were reported on Tuesday. The latest fatalities came after three deaths were also reported on Monday, taking the toll this week to six, and to 123 in total since the pandemic began. The highest number of deaths in a single day was five, recorded on August... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3113999/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-expecting-98-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3113999/hong-kong-fourth-wave-city-expecting-98-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Dec 2020 06:39:06 +0000 After being battered by a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections for more than three months, Hong Kong has started to loosen the toughest social-distancing measures imposed on the city, with the number of cases on a downward trend in recent weeks.  Travel restrictions that forced flight bans from Britain and subsequently South Africa have been expanded to cover Brazil and Ireland. The bans are reviewed fortnightly. Here is what you need to know about the relaxing of social-distancing measures,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3113883/how-enjoy-covid-19-christmas-hong-kong-social?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3113883/how-enjoy-covid-19-christmas-hong-kong-social?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Dec 2020 01:00:15 +0000