HK bash lands 30 officials in quarantine
BIRTHDAY PARTY ENDS IN SCANDAL AS COVID RULES IGNORED
>>HONG KONG: More than two dozen Hong Kong officials have been ordered to quarantine due to possible Covid exposure, as a scandal over a large birthday party they attended despite the government’s own pandemic warnings widened.
All of the some 170 guests at a celebration thrown for a representative for a mainland Chinese agency were being sent to the government quarantine camp in Penny’s Bay, health official Chuang Shuk-kwan said at a press briefing Friday. Some of Hong Kong’s most senior politicians and more than 20% of its new “patriots-only” legislature will be confined to 200-square-foot (20-square-meter) rooms with no WiFi access, just as the government fights an outbreak of the infectious Omicron variant.
Some 30 government officials gathered onMonday for the birthday of Witman Hung, a local representative for the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, despite government warnings to avoid mass gatherings. The celebration began at 6pm (local time) as a dinner at a Spanish restaurant and then continued until about midnight, officials said. The two guests who have since tested preliminary positive for Covid-19 weren’t at the party at the same time.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam ordered detailed investigations into 13 government officials who attended the party, and said they have been told not to continue with their duties as they enter quarantine using their vacation leave. Those in quarantine include Financial Services Secretary Christopher Hui, Police Chief Raymond Siu, Immigration Director Au Ka-wang, Home Affairs Secretary Caspar Tsui and Independent Commission Against Corruption Commissioner Simon Peh.
“The investigation will cover the detailed circumstances of the attendance of each official at the banquet, including the time of arrival, duration of stay and their behaviour there,” she said in a statement late Friday. “I have to reiterate that concerted efforts of the whole society are needed to fight the virus and that government officials should lead by example, abide by the rules, stay vigilant and refrain from taking part in high-risk activities.”
The details about the party came to light as more evidence emerged suggesting that the highly contagious Omicron variant was already spreading widely. Hong Kong now has at least three transmission chains and officials said they can’t rule out hidden clusters in the community.
A large outbreak would undermine Ms Lam’s ability to maintain a Covid Zero strategy of eliminating the virus from the city’s borders. That policy has underpinned her goal of restarting quarantine-free travel with the mainland.
The scandal also risks feeding further resentment against Ms Lam’s Beijing-backed government, which has maintained some of the world’s toughest travel curbs, jailed scores of pro-democracy activists, forced newspaper closures and installed a new opposition-free legislature. It comes at a tough time for Ms Lam, since she must soon decide whether she’ll seek China’s blessing for a second five-year term.
Ms Lam said on Thursday she was “disappointed” in the party-going officials while trying to sidestep personal blame, saying accountability “does not mean that I’m responsible of the decisions and actions of my colleagues”.
Legislative Council President Andrew Leung said at least 19 members of the 90-seat Legislative Council were at the party, adding no decision had been made whether to hold Wednesday’s opening session in person.