HK urges testing for entire 7.4mn people
Hong Kong authorities on Saturday asked the entire population of more than 7.4 million people to voluntarily test themselves for Covid-19 at home for three days in a row starting next week, while authorities in Shanghai struggled to meet requirements for a lockdown on many of the city’s 26 million residents. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam announced the voluntary testing as the southern Chinese city were struggling to contain its worst outbreak with authorities sending mixed signals about testing and lockdowns.
Lam said a “compulsory, universal test” of the whole population was essential, but did not say when that might happen. Authorities shelved the idea after a previous announcement caused panic buying.
The prospect of further school closures and other disruptions has the government caught between calls for loosening restrictions and Beijing’s demand for an extreme “zeroCovid” approach mandating lockdowns and mass testing.
Hong Kong on Friday lifted a ban on residents returning aboard flights from nine countries where Covid-19 cases have surged, including Britain and the US.
Meanwhile, Shanghai is implementing a two-stage, eight-day lockdown - the largest such undertaking by China since the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.
Authorities have placed the half of the city, Puxi, under isolation with non-essential businesses and public transport brought to a stop and roads cleared of cars and people.
A total of 14 million Puxi residents were tested on Friday, according to state media.
‘New Omicron strain more transmissible’
A new strain of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, first detected in the UK, appears to be more transmissible than previous strains of the coronavirus, the WHO has said, asserting that Covid-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern and warning that it is “too early” to reduce the quality of surveillance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update that the XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2) was first detected in the UK on January 19 and more than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since then. “Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10% as compared to BA.2. However, this finding requires further confirmation.”
The Geneva-based UN health agency said that XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported.