Hong Kong govt urged to respond quickly as coronavirus cases rebound
Hong Kong medical experts urged the government on Thursday to take immediate and decisive action to stem the surge of local COVID-19 cases, while appealing to residents to return to a restrained lifestyle and adding that the government was considering mandatory coronavirus testing.
They made the appeal as the city reported 14 new local coronavirus infections on Thursday, the largest total since Sept 21. Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee acknowledged that the increase in local cases reflects a rebound of the pandemic.
Local infectious-disease medical experts, including Gabriel Matthew Leung, Yuen Kwok-yung, and Leung Chi-chiu, have warned on different occasions about the worrisome situation, saying that action should be taken before any renewed outbreak.
Gabriel Leung and Yuen suggested on Thursday that tougher social distancing measures be imposed on bars and other entertainment facilities. Ten of the latest local cases were linked to a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Bars and other entertainment venues were allowed to reopen on Sept 18 after a two-month shutdown. Bars currently can serve a maximum of two people per table and use no more than half of their total seating capacity.
Chan said the Hong Kong government was studying the legal framework to implement mandatory coronavirus testing in the event of another outbreak, but she didn’t say whether such a plan would be mandatory for everyone.
Leung Chi-chiu said a clear regulatory framework would help the Health Department track down high-risk individuals, such as those who come into close contact with patients and who have been exposed to areas where the virus might be transmitted.
In the meantime, the special administrative region government should work on improving its testing efficiency and strive to produce test results within 24 hours in suspected cases, he said.
He added that public cooperation plays a key role in cutting invisible transmission chains, and called on local residents to stay at home as much as possible.
Gabriel Leung said that Hong Kong people have largely resumed their pre-pandemic travel habits in the city. He said that the travel of local residents is now 80 to 90 percent of what it was in January.
Quick and mandatory quarantine measures play a major role for mainland cities to cut down transmission chains in communities.
For example, on Aug 14, a 41-yearold supermarket employee in Shenzhen was confirmed to have contracted the virus, eight days after she left the city. The Shenzhen government immediately home-quarantined her colleagues as well as all residents living in the same building as the patient, and tested them for COVID-19. Two asymptomatic patients were found among the 1,730 people tested.
Their neighbors and colleagues also were quarantined and tested. The residential areas and working places of the patients were also closed for disinfection. The supermarket voluntarily closed all 21 stores in the city for disinfection and tested all its staff and fresh goods. Shenzhen has remained “virus-free” since the last two patients were cured on Sept 30.