Scrap Quarantine As Covid Is Endemic: Yuen Kwok-yung

An expert advisor to the government on the pandemic, Yuen Kwok-yung, says Covid-19 has become endemic and the authorities should start relaxing restrictions to let life return to normal.

The top microbiologist made the remarks in an article he penned with his colleagues from the University of Hong Kong published on Monday.

They wrote that Hong Kong has built a strong shield against severe coronavirus cases through vaccination and natural infections.

According to their analysis, the Covid fatality rate from December 31 last year to September 14 stood at 0.59 percent.

But if only the data from June onward is considered, ie after the easing of social distancing measures, the academics said the fatality rate drops to 0.097 percent.

"Members of the public should start to understand that the coronavirus has taken root in Hong Kong, and that it has become endemic is a fact," the experts wrote, pointing out that it's time to start gradually relaxing Covid rules for life to return to normal.

They said the power of the virus has been greatly weakened since vaccines and antiviral drugs became available.

"Hong Kong definitely meets the criteria to replace quarantine Covid tests," they noted, adding that the authorities can take a more aggressive approach than the proposed plan of seven days of medical surveillance to speed up the normalisation process.

The experts called for a comprehensive monitoring system so that new variants of the coronavirus can be discovered as soon as possible and infection control measures can be tightened.

They suggested that unvaccinated people and their family members should do regular PCR tests and high risk groups and people with suspected symptoms should be encouraged to get tested, so that their infections can be identified and treated earlier.

But they said sewage testing and lockdowns are "no longer meaningful" as the virus has taken hold in the community.

"Use the precious resources to raise the vaccination rate of the young and old and for measures with long-term strategic values," they suggested.

The experts, however, said one measure must remain in place for now: the wearing of face masks.

"Face masks are very effective in reducing the risks of respiratory viral and bacterial infections," they noted, explaining that people's immunity against respiratory diseases like flu might have come down after being protected by face masks in the past 2.5 years.

They also warned that the return of other respiratory diseases could cause the deaths of thousands.

"Universal face-mask wearing should be the last measure to be lifted," they said.