Hong Kong’s new coronary epidemic rebounded with 68 new confirmed cases on Sunday (22nd), of which 46 were in the “dancing group”, and the cumulative number of people in the group has been confirmed at 80. According to government expert consultant and Dean of HKU Faculty of Medicine, Gabriel Leung, the number of local confirmed cases has increased geometrically over the past few days, with the immediate multiplication rate of the virus reaching 1.84, reflecting the start of the fourth wave of the epidemic.
The number of confirmed cases will not drop in a short period of time, and “dancing groups” are rising fast. Many people show no signs of illness, and there are many activities, which makes it difficult to control the epidemic and reach out to the community. She called on people to keep a social distance and employers to consider working at home.
The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, Mr. Gabriel Leung, said in a radio program that it is urgent to plug the loophole in designated quarantine hotels, and that he hopes that quarantine can be implemented in designated hotels before the large number of international students return to Hong Kong at Christmas. He also said that more precise measures should be taken this time to tackle the epidemic. He called on the government to at least set up a testing center in each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, and to consider extending the sample bottle service to all MTR stations for the convenience of the public.
The Food and Health Bureau said that the local neo-coronary pneumonia epidemic is worsening rapidly, and the government will provide a one-time allowance of more than HK$5,000 to local citizens diagnosed with the disease, without the need for an asset test. The details will be announced by the Labour and Welfare Bureau later.
A spokesman for the Bureau pointed out that the early detection, isolation and treatment of the virus can curb its spread, which is an important part of the anti-epidemic strategy. The government will also introduce mandatory testing for other high-risk or high-exposure groups, including people with symptoms, elderly home workers and cab drivers, at a later stage. The relevant bureaux are actively implementing the mandatory testing and will announce the details in due course.
The government should seize the opportunity to do a good job in preventing the epidemic in the next two weeks, otherwise the epidemic in Hong Kong will get out of control,” Dr. Leung said.
The government should take the lead in restarting the home-based work arrangement as soon as possible to cut off the chain of transmission,” Dr. Leung said. He also pointed out that universal testing has not been effective, and disagreed with universal testing as the main means of epidemic prevention, stressing that the government should take a multi-pronged approach to seize the timing of epidemic prevention measures, in addition to the implementation of social distance measures, the government should also arrange for school suspension and the closure of indoor entertainment venues.
The Director of HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, Mr. Lu Po Mao, also believes that it is not appropriate to implement universal testing at this time, and agrees that it is necessary to tighten social distance measures to control the epidemic. He also criticized the Hong Kong government’s measures for being too slow, saying that the government should control the epidemic by “eliminating the disease internally and preventing the importation of foreigners externally,” and that reference could be made to the compulsory quarantine arrangements for mainlanders entering Hong Kong.
The Secretary for Home Affairs, Matthew Cheung, said in a blog post that Hong Kong is in a critical moment of epidemic prevention, and the public should not take it lightly. He pointed out that the SAR government is closely monitoring the development of the epidemic, and does not rule out the introduction of more stringent anti-epidemic measures to contain the epidemic.
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