Stopping Visitors Will Not Cut New Cases: CHP Chief

A health official on Friday played down calls for a total ban on visitors to Hong Kong, saying stopping non-residents from coming into the city might not help bring down the number of new Covid-19 cases. 

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said only one out of 48 newly reported coronavirus infections involved a non-resident.

He is an Australian who reported feeling unwell during transit at Hong Kong airport on March 18 and was taken to a hospital here. He had originally been in the United States and then went to Portugal, spending some time in hospital in Lisbon.

Chuang's media briefing on the latest situation came after lawmakers across the political spectrum passed a motion calling on the government to enforce a ban on all non-residents from entering Hong Kong.

She reiterated that the most effective way to stop infections is social distancing. 

But the doctor said the number of new Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong might remain high for two weeks or even longer.

"The cases we received today … some of them had a travel history a bit earlier. It's not those who arrived within the past two days. It's all those who might have arrived a few days before," she said. 

"With the incoming high number of Hong Kong residents returning to Hong Kong from overseas, we expect some more cases will come. This may at least last for two weeks or more."