HK Confirms 23 Covid Cases Ahead Of School Restart

Hong Kong confirmed 23 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday – the highest daily total in nearly a month – days before local students start returning to school for in-person classes.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) says 19 of the new cases are classified as imported cases, while the other four are linked to previously-known local infections.

This takes the total number of confirmed cases here to 5,032.

While the 23 cases reported on Sunday is far lower than seen earlier this summer, it is significantly higher than the previous day’s figure of 13, and is the highest number of cases since 24 were reported on August 26.

Seven of the new cases were people who recently flew in from India.

Cathay Dragon had earlier in the day said all flights from Kuala Lumpur would be halted until October 3, after five passengers who arrived in Hong Kong from the Malaysian city last week tested positive for Covid-19.

They were all said to have been connecting passengers from India.

The uptick in the number of daily cases comes days before local schools are to start welcoming back some of their students on Wednesday, for face-to-face classes for the first time in the new semester.

Schools are busy making final preparations, and educators are eager to make up for lost time.

Langton Cheung, the principal of the Aided Primary School Heads Association, says senior primary students have to catch up with their preparation for high school entrance exams.

He gave assurances that such exams will only cover materials taught during in-person classes.

A former principal of Lions College, James Lam, is more worried about the prospect of students getting infected.

He’s particularly concerned that kids can catch the bug on their way to school, and is encouraging those who live within a reasonable distance to their schools to walk.

He added that teachers shouldn't rush into teaching the curriculum, but should teach students how to lower infection risks.

The number of daily Covid-19 cases has fallen in recent weeks, prompting the government to ease social distancing measures, allow sports venues, theme parks, bars and karaokes to reopen for the first time in months.

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