Quarantine-free Entry To HK Via Guangdong Suspended

Health authorities here on Saturday suspended quarantine-free entry to Hong Kong via Guangdong due to a recently confirmed case in Guangzhou.

Speaking at the Centre for Health Protection's daily press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said Hong Kong residents coming back through a special quarantine-free travel scheme - known as Return2HK - cannot return via Guangdong starting from Sunday.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, reported one Covid-19 infection involving a resident of a private housing block in Sham Shui Po.

Authorities said the 29-year-old domestic helper had most likely been infected while in Indonesia, but officials are treating it as a local infection for now.

The patient lives with her employer's family at Cullinan West on Sham Mong Road. The family has been sent into quarantine.

The helper arrived in Hong Kong on April 25 and tested negative as she completed quarantine.

Chuang said her viral load was rather low and she had Covid antibodies.

Chuang also reported at least one locally acquired preliminary positive case, a helper who lives in Earl Garden in Ho Man Tin.

The 39-year-old arrived in February and was due to fly back to Indonesia on Sunday.

She also spent time living in her agency's dormitory at Bowring Building in Jordan. Several helpers there were sent into quarantine, as was her former employer's family.

If confirmed, Chuang said this would be another untraceable local case, and that there were still hidden transmission chains in the community.

Chuang again appealed the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible, saying she "doesn't know what people are waiting for."

"We cannot rely on all these infection controls, social distancing, and border control measures in the long term. For a pandemic like this, the ultimate tool we can rely on is a vaccine," she said.