'More Restrictions Needed To Curb Mutant Strains'

An infectious disease expert has called on the government to update its travel restrictions more promptly to prevent inbound travellers from bringing new strains of the coronavirus into the city.

Dr Joseph Tsang of the Medical Association said new strains of the virus recently found in the UK and South Africa have already spread to many other parts of the world, while other countries are also at risk of discovering their own novel variants.

Speaking after attending RTHK’s City Forum, the expert noted that Malaysia has recently detected a new strain of the Covid-19, dubbed A701V, but little is known about its genetic structure and transmissibility.

Tsang stressed the government needs to step up its travel restrictions, such as ban flights from more destinations, before it's too late.

“Of course we have the ban on UK flights. We should somehow keep update about the situations around the world. I do think that this kind of mutant variant will not just only happen in South Africa, but also elsewhere... we also noticed this kind of mutant variants have already been reported in Southeast Asia and in part of the European countries.”

“For the safety of Hong Kong as well as to control our upsurge of cases, in order to avoid any other new mutant variants from coming in, I think certain degree of restrictions of the flights has to be considered. If not, we’re bound to see cases of some mutant-related coronavirus cases very soon.”

Speaking at the same event, former pro-establishment lawmaker Yan Chan also criticised the government for not acting promptly enough to prevent the spread of the virus from abroad.

She said it was only until Christmas Eve – almost a year after the virus started spreading -- that the government was able to introduce quicker tests at the airport to allow inbound travelers to get their test results within four, instead of the previous ten hours. She questioned why it took the government so long to achieve this.

And despite calls for the authorities to require inbound travelers to undergo quarantine at designated hotels much earlier this year, the government only managed to roll out the measure in December, when the city’s already battling the fourth wave of the pandemic, she added.

Chan said as more variants of the virus are found overseas, the government needs to make quick decisions on whether to suspend more flights coming to the city.