Hong Kong fourth wave: two or more unrelated coronavirus cases in 14-day period will trigger mandatory testing in any housing block
- City logs 53 new cases as health authorities reveal three hidden virus carriers detected through pilot sewage monitoring system
- Officials also warn that genetic analysis showed five recently imported infections carried new, highly transmissible variant of virus
They also revealed that three hidden coronavirus carriers had been detected through a pilot sewage monitoring system, and warned that genetic analysis showed five recently imported infections carried a new, highly transmissible variant of Covid-19.
Confirming another 53 cases on Tuesday, 14 of which were untraceable, Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr Chui Tak-yi said daily caseloads and untraceable infections in the community remained “at a high level” and the tightened testing regime would help stamp out hidden transmissions.
“Even though daily cases have dipped slightly compared with before, there is no sustained downward trend, and the decline is slower than what we saw in the city’s third wave,” Chui told a daily Covid-19 briefing.
Although the total number of cases fell to 434 last week, from 614 a week earlier, untraceable infections had held steady, with the proportion rising slightly from 33 to 36 per cent, he said. The threshold for mandatory testing would therefore be lowered from four unrelated cases in a block to two, Chui said.
