Coronavirus: rule breaches, infection rebound could derail Hong Kong’s plan to further ease travel curbs, city leader warns
- John Lee reveals more than 40 people breached health code since August, while 8 to 9 per cent of residents subject to compulsory testing did not comply in past two months
- He urges business sectors to be patient in reaping economic benefits of eased curbs, with city on second day of ‘0+3’ scheme
Hong Kong’s plans to further ease coronavirus travel curbs could be derailed if there is widespread breaching of regulations and a resurgence in infections, the city’s leader has warned amid mounting calls to end all restrictions to revive the economy.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu struck a cautionary note on Tuesday and urged local businesses to be patient in reaping economic benefits as it was only the second day under a new arrangement that no longer required overseas arrivals to serve hotel quarantine.
“If everyone complies with our rules, our path [to normality] will be smoother. But if many keep breaching the rules, it may not be easy for us to have new considerations on [the relaxation] of measures,” he told the press before his weekly Executive Council meeting.
Coronavirus infection numbers continued to fall on Tuesday, with 3,667 new cases reported, as well as six more related deaths. Imported infections rose slightly to 193 from 188 on Monday. The city’s coronavirus tally now stands at 1,753,201, with 10,134 fatalities.
Apart from rulebreakers, Lee said, another factor that could derail the city’s plan to further open up was a possible double whammy of Covid-19 and seasonal flu in a coming winter surge.
Lee said daily Covid-19 caseloads which hovered at 4,000 were “still a high number”, while 20 per cent of public hospital services had been cut to spare capacity for patients. He also noted that vaccination rates for the elderly and children were unsatisfactory.
“If we can put the [possible] rebound under control, we hope to allow more room for activities [to resume] gradually according to the actual circumstances,” he said without elaborating how his administration defined a resurgence.
