Strict Lockdowns Needed In Covid Fight: Sophia Chan

Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan on Sunday defended the government's ambush lockdown policy, saying strict action was needed to rid the SAR of Covid-19 - especially now that cases were falling.

Chan told a radio programme that 15 cases had so far been found in 20 lockdowns involving almost 19,000 people, saying the positive rate was higher than in last year’s citywide voluntary testing programme.

On Sunday morning, the government ended its latest lockdown operations at two separate buildings in To Kwa Wan and Tuen Mun. A total of 482 residents were tested. No confirmed cases were found.

Chan added that, to further clamp down on the number of infections, construction site workers might be required to get tested regularly, and more details would be announced this week.

But she said if the downward trend continued, some anti-epidemic measures could be eased after the Lunar New Year holiday, adding that people should minimise social gatherings.

Meanwhile, Chan dismissed accusations that the government was lowering its standards by exempting mainland vaccine manufacturer Sinovac from having to publish data from late-stage clinical trials in a medical journal, saying the government's advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines would carefully assess all available data.

Chan said the authorities would try to give the data they receive from Sinovac to the advisory panel before the Lunar New Year, in order to get emergency use approval as soon as possible.

She added that the administration was also liaising closely with the German drugmaker BioNTech to ensure the vaccines arrive by the end of the month.

Hong Kong has placed orders for Covid vaccines from Sinovac, BioNTech and AstraZeneca.