Experts Raise Alarm As Covid Cases Continue To Rise

Sources tell RTHK that authorities are expected to report 17 new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong on Thursday amid heightened concerns among health experts about the rising number of infections of unknown source, following a long holiday weekend.

Dr Leung Chi-chiu, the chairman of the Medical Association's advisory committee on communicable diseases, said there have been 12 local cases with no known source in the past seven days, compared to just two the week before.

He said the iincrease in such infections will have a knock-on affect, with more related cases appearing one after the other and an acceleration in the rebound of Covid-19.

Leung told an RTHK radio programme that the rebound was expected given the long weekend and because the government had eased a number of social distancing measures in the past few weeks.

But he said that even if the government fine-tuned some anti-epidemic measures, the effect would be limited. He reiterated calls for people to avoid going to high-risk places and attending social gatherings.

He also said the government should consider introducing specific measures for individual sites or groups where there have been outbreaks reported and intervene as soon as possible.

Leung urged students to avoid social gatherings, and said there should to be restrictions on after-school activities to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

A Baptist University student and his brother, who studies at a secondary school in Tseung Kwan O, recently came down with the disease. Health officials confirmed that the duo attended family gatherings and also played basketball with friends.

Leung said it was important to prevent Covid-19 transmission between students at schools and outside campuses, as the US and parts of Europe have seen a rebound in cases because of the resumption of face-to-face classes.

He warned that the scale of the outbreak in schools ccould be huge because it would affect a lot of families.

Leung's concerns were echoed by Hong Kong University microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, who said the city was likely to see a number of cases connected to restaurants in the coming days because a lot of people went out to eat out over the mid-autumn holidays.

Yuen called on the restaurant sector to continue to implement anti-epidemic measures.

He also called on people to take more photos on their phones whenever they go out so that they can remember exactly where they have been, saying this would help the authorities with contact tracing.

He also suggested that bar patrons should not remove their masks and instead consumer their beverages through a drinking straw similar to a water bottle for primary school students.