NEW CLUSTER OF CASES DETECTED IN KENNEDY TOWN
Health officials uncover five infections involving four families in Sai Wan Estate, although two government advisers urge public not to worry
Health authorities have identified a new Covid-19 cluster in a public housing block in Kennedy Town and locked down the entire estate for compulsory testing of residents, although two government pandemic advisers have urged the public not to be too worried about the situation.
Health officials yesterday revealed that five cases, involving four families in different flats on separate floors, had recently been uncovered in West Terrace, one of five blocks in Sai Wan Estate.
Sewage samples taken on the estate had tested positive for Covid-19, and the “viral load there was rather high, especially in West Terrace”, said Dr Chuang Shukkwan, head of the communicable diseases branch of the Centre for Health Protection.
“But there could also be cases in other blocks such as Centre Terrace, East Terrace and North Terrace,” she said, noting sewage samples collected from those buildings also tested positive.
She also said a small outbreak had been uncovered at a billiards hall in Hung Hom involving four people who had visited the venue around the same time on Monday.
The developments came as Hong Kong recorded 294 new Covid-19 cases yesterday and one more coronavirus-related death. The city’s tally of confirmed cases rose to 1,207,665, with 9,356 related fatalities.
The city also reported 40 imported cases, the highest since authorities on May 1 eased entry restrictions and allowed overseas travellers to fly into Hong Kong.
Chuang attributed the rise in imported cases to more travellers arriving in the city.
“The cases are scattered on different flights. Not a lot of them returned on the same flight,” she said. “We will, of course, continue to keep track of new variants and whether they have entered into the community by conducting more genome sequencing.”
Earlier yesterday, the University of Hong Kong’s medical school had urged staff and students not to visit nearby Kennedy Town for lunch this week as a “large Covid-19 cluster” could be developing there.
Sai Wan Estate was placed under lockdown for mandatory testing from 3.30pm. The government said the action was taken after reviewing various issues, including the viral load in sewage, information on positive cases there and other circumstantial factors.
Fifteen buildings or estates in the area were among places where residents, cleaners and property management staff would be given rapid test kits, after sewage samples were found with relatively high viral loads, the government said.
While admitting officials were “a bit worried” about the cluster, Chuang said the lockdown was just a regular operation when asked how the situation compared with Kwai Chung Estate, where several blocks were locked down for five to seven days in January and more than 300 cases were detected.
Despite the recent easing of Covid-19 infections, lockdowns for mandatory testing still occur almost every day, and several cases are usually uncovered during an operation.
But Chuang said: “Whether the few cases in West Terrace can explain the situation or there are more cases that have gone unnoticed, we are a bit worried.”
In a message sent out by email and on social media, HKU’s faculty of medicine said: “We would strongly advise all students and staff to refrain from visiting the area for lunch or engage in any mask-off activities for the rest of this week.”
Asked if HKU’s warning would spark fear among residents, Chuang said the authorities “respected the university’s decision”.
Government pandemic adviser Professor Yuen Kwokyung, also from HKU, urged the public not to be alarmed as there was “nothing to panic about. Just be careful”.
Yuen said that while Covid-19 vaccines could not stop the virus from circulating, they would reduce severe disease and deaths. “The key issue is to get vaccinated if you are not, especially [in] these buildings in Sai Wan,” he added.
Fellow government pandemic adviser Professor David Hui Shucheong said the public had no need to be worried before more investigations had been done.
“The health authorities might need to collect some environmental samples to see if any contamination was involved,” Hui said, adding that five cases in a building was not considered to be a lot given the high density.
He said it was a safe measure for the government to quickly lock down the entire Sai Wan Estate.
Hui agreed HKU’s warning was reasonable as it was precautionary advice to prevent any possible spread of the virus in dormitories and on campus.
Among the cases linked to the Hung Hom billiards club, two had arrived in the city from the United States and the Philippines on April 29 and 30, respectively. They tested positive separately on the 12th and 11th day of their arrival.
Chuang said the four had visited the premises on the evening of May 9 but did not interact with each other, adding that around 150 customers who were there between 5pm and midnight on the same day were subject to compulsory testing.
The authorities had also detected the Omicron sublineage BA.2.12.1 in four imported cases who arrived in Hong Kong between April 30 to May 7, bringing the total number of people carrying it to 11 so far. Two more cases of BA.4 were also identified at the airport.
But Chuang said the threat of imported cases would be lower than before as overseas infections mostly carried BA.2.2, which was similar to the sublineage in Hong Kong.
As fears grow that Beijing is heading for a Covid-19 lockdown, the city’s most vulnerable are already struggling to get access to hospital care.
The city government on Wednesday announced that parts of Chaoyang, Fangshan and Shunyi districts – where virus cases have been found – would be subject to tighter curbs, including a ban on taxi and ride-hailing services from entering the areas.
“As soon as I read that news, I panicked,” said Cara Hu, a Chaoyang resident whose mother needs dialysis at a Beijing hospital three times a week. The treatment removes waste from her blood – keeping her alive until she can receive a kidney transplant.
But Hu says she has struggled to find a way to get her mother to hospital. Ride-hailing apps are not working – they show a notice saying service has been cut “in accordance with regulations”.
She sought help from local workers, but was turned down. One of them, quoting their supervisors, told Hu she would need to solve the problem herself and keep “the big picture” in mind. “The restrictions underscore the determination of Chaoyang district [to achieve zero Covid],” the worker told her.
Hu is one of many people experiencing inconvenience, as the central government insists on sticking to the zero-Covid policy.
For more than two years, authorities across the country have tried to eradicate the virus with measures such as compulsory mass testing and lockdowns – even when daily infections are only in the dozens, as is the case in Beijing’s latest outbreak. Dissent is mounting, particularly over difficulties getting medical care.
The latest rules in Beijing also have expectant mothers worried. Wang Xiatian, who is eight months’ pregnant, said she came up with a plan after she heard taxi and ride-hailing services had been suspended. She is counting on her mother to drive her to hospital when the time comes.
But others do not have access to cars. Wang said one of her pregnant friends had to go to hospital for a check and – unable to get a taxi or ambulance – paid a passing motorist to take her.
The Beijing city website said a special team was handling emergencies, but some said local workers had been unable to help them contact the team.
“It’s upsetting that some of my friends agree with the restrictions,” Wang said. “But people were like this in Shanghai too – you choose to trust them until you don’t.”
In Shanghai, where residents have endured a strict lockdown for more than a month, people have complained of food shortages and difficulties accessing healthcare.
Shanghai-based journalist Lian Qingchuan wrote about being unable to return to his hometown in Fujian to see his mother before she died last week – a story that was swiftly scrubbed from the internet by censors.
He had tried many ways to see her but was repeatedly told he would need to quarantine when he arrived in his hometown. “If a system can’t even be human, it doesn’t serve to live,” he wrote.
Stories such these – and of truck drivers being trapped on highways for days, children infected with the virus sent to quarantine without parents, and pets being killed by prevention and control workers – have been reported across the country.
But authorities have shown no sign of wavering on the zero-tolerance approach. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday blasted the World Health Organization for making “irresponsible” remarks after the agency said China’s zero-Covid policy was unsustainable.
Alfred Wu of the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the order had come from the top. “It’s something that you cannot discuss, something you must implement, and that deters local governments from having any flexibility,” he said.
Hu in Chaoyang has found someone willing to drive her mother to hospital today, but she is unsure of the future. The plight has prompted her to learn to drive, once rules are eased. “I used to think – ‘I live in a metropolis, why do I need a car to survive?’”
It’s something … that deters local governments from having any flexibility ALFRED WU ON THE ZERO-COVID POLICY