Covid Outbreak Still In Early Stages: HKU Expert

A University of Hong Kong public health scholar said on Monday that analysis of the current trend of infections suggests Hong Kong is still in the early stage of the outbreak, and could see hundreds of thousands of new cases in the coming weeks.

Karen Grepin, an associate professor at HKU's School of Public Health, told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme that whether or not infections peak in mid-March would depend on the measures taken by authorities.

"All of the data seems to suggest that we are very much at an early stage in this wave and that cases will continue to rise to the point where literally hundreds of thousands of cases in the coming weeks," she told RTHK's Janice Wong, citing models prepared by HKU epidemiologists and virologists.

She said officials need to scale up vaccinations, and she questioned why those who'd self-tested positive using rapid tests should still have to queue up for a PCR test to confirm their diagnosis.

"We know, for example, that the testing system is completely overwhelmed," Grepin added. "It's very difficult for people to go and get a PCR test at the moment. But people could be testing positive using a rapid antigen test.

"So what are the protocols, and why is the priority that they still have to go out and get tested when we know they're positive at this point?"

Hong Kong reported 6,067 new cases on Sunday and officials warned that the trend was rising.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan said that there was absolutely no way social-distancing measures could be relaxed with thousands of Covid cases a day, and instead authorities were looking into tightening the rules further.