Hong Kong leader vows more help for 300,000 residents in home quarantine as death toll surpasses Wuhan’s
- Government to distribute up to 60,000 anti-epidemic kits each day and increase number of dedicated hotlines to 200 by end of month
- Pledge comes as Shenzhen authorities announce Hong Kong truck drives can no longer cross border
With the rest of the nation is battling its worst outbreak in two years, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor sought to reassure residents on Sunday that the mainland’s support in tackling the city’s fifth wave of infections would continue and the supply of goods and resources would be unaffected.
But her comments came as Shenzhen authorities announced that Hong Kong truck drivers would no longer be allowed to cross the border and people could not leave the mainland city unless they provided a negative Covid-19 test result.
After several days of reporting a declining number of infections, Hong Kong’s caseload rose to its highest level since Thursday. Authorities confirmed 32,430 infections, 19,095 of which were logged through a new government online portal by residents using rapid antigen test kits. The number of infections since the fifth wave began in late December stood at 694,246.
Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection said that while the pandemic was under control in a “preliminary” sense, the situation remained “fragile”.
