Eight New Covid-19 Cases Reported In Hong Kong

Health authorities confirmed eight new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday as the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, announced that existing social distancing measures will be extended for a week from Friday until October 1.

Five of the newly-confirmed infections are imported cases from India.

The three remaining locally-transmitted cases were all linked to previously-known infections.

The latest cases take the city's total number of infections to 5,046, with 103 Covid-related fatalities.

Lam had told reporters ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting that while there has been a steady drop in the number of coronavirus cases in the territory, there remain some sporadic cases where authorities cannot pinpoint the source of infection.

Respiratory disease expert Professor David Hui – one of the government’s advisors on how to deal with the pandemic – said it’s good to see that the authorities are taking a more cautious approach than before by extending the existing social distancing measures.

He said while the government may have been a little too quick to scale back such precautions before a third wave of infections hit the territory in July, it appears to be taking a more conservative approach this time.

Hui said he believes it will take the government another week or two to assess whether it’s appropriate to relax the measures further.

Many entertainment venues that were previously ordered shut as a precautionary measure have been allowed to reopen as the number of cases dwindled.

Students are due to return to school for face-to-face classes for the first time this semester starting on Wednesday.