Masks Made Stricter, Govt Servants To Work From Home

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Sunday announced that Covid-19 situation is now "really critical" as the government announced a series of tough measures like making masks mandatory in all indoor public spaces and ordering civil servants to work from home as the city recorded more than 100 new coronavirus cases – a single-day record.

"I think the situation is really critical and there is no sign the situation is being brought under control," she said at a special press briefing held to announce the new restrictions.

Lam said the tougher mask rules followed a move by the government last week to require everyone on public transport to wear one.

Examples of indoor public spaces are supermarkets and wet markets.

And from Monday, civil servants will be working from home, an arrangement that was also in place during the outbreak earlier this year. Lam said the government will only provide emergency and essential services to the public. The policy will last for one week.

Asked about the policy change on this as the government had ruled it out last week, Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip said: "Of course that would have an impact on people, on the provision of services but I think that's the price that we have to pay at this juncture."

"So you could see that we monitor the situation closely, we introduce targeted measures when necessary. And if the situation warrants, we introduce the measures without any hesitation."

On DSE results that are due out on Wednesday, the Chief Executive said students should not head back to schools to pick up their results, but can do so online instead.

For those who do have to be present in schools, crowd-control measures should be in place. She also said university applications should be done online as much as possible.

The CE also announced special infection-control measures, especially in Kowloon East where the outbreak is at its worst. Support will be offered to elderly residents staying at home.

Lam said there are no signs the local outbreak is under control. Ahead of a daily briefing by the Centre for Health Prevention, she said the total number of Covid-19 cases on Sunday topped 100.

Lam said new local cases are on the rise as the outbreak worldwide shows no signs of easing, and as authorities here focus on early tracing and testing of contacts.

Twelve types of venues that were shut down for seven days last week, including bars and gyms, will be closed for seven more days. Curbs on restaurants, such as a ban on dine-in services from 6 pm, have also been extended for a week.

______________________________