Expert Against Lockdown, But Urges All To Stay Home

The chairman of the Medical Association's advisory committee on communicable diseases said that imposing a lockdown in Hong Kong would be too extreme, but nevertheless urged people not to go out as Hong Kong continues to be battered by a third wave of Covid-19 cases.

Dr Leung Chi-chiu told an RTHK radio programme on Tuesday that the most important thing at the moment is to cut off the chain of transmission, and the most effective thing for people to do is to stay at home.

This comes as identified clusters continue to spawn new Covid cases while dozens of cases with "source unknown" are also being recorded, indicating the presence of a large number of asymptomatic coronavirus carriers.

When asked about suggestions to impose a lockdown, Leung said that "closing a city" is extreme and would be a "point of no return" for the economy, would not necessarily help cut the chain of transmission, and that it would be better to focus on controlling the epidemic.

Leung said that with civil servants being required to work from home, this will enable private organisations to follow suit and help "put out the fire".

However, he acknowledged that it's hard to control the situation if people keep "running around and dancing", and urged people to think twice before they decide to go out.

He added that people are taking on a certain risk for themselves, their families, and the community when they go out.

On Monday, Hong Kong University microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung warned that Hong Kong may have to go into a virtual lockdown if the number of coronavirus cases continues to increase in the next one to two weeks.

The Centre for Health Protection said that if the surge in new cases doesn't come down, then tighter anti-epidemic measures may be needed

As of Monday, Hong Kong has recorded 1,958 confirmed Covid-19 cases including 12 fatalities.