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Hong Kong’s Lam says Covid-19 spike has ‘nothing to do with ethnicity’ after health official’s comments
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the recent rise in Covid-19 infections has “nothing to do with ethnicity” after a senior official at the Centre for Health Protection suggested that ethnic minorities were engaging in “behaviour that put them at risk.” “There is absolutely no suggestion of the spread of disease relating to race or ethnicity,” Lam said. She however said environmental factors did make certain groups more likely to contract the virus. “Social behaviours, living conditions, workplace hygiene are factors that will make certain people more vulnerable to catching this vir...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: Hong Kong experts recommend BioNTech vaccine as city records over 100 new infections on Mon
An expert panel has recommended the use of BioNTech coronavirus vaccines in Hong Kong ahead of a mass roll-out which could begin as early as next month. The advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines announced on Monday that it would recommend the use of BioNTech vaccines, acquired by Fosun Pharma, a Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company, to the Food and Health Bureau as the “efficacy outweighs its risks.” At a press conference, convenor Wallace Lau said the panel considered the safeness, efficacy, and quality of the vaccine in their meeting earlier that day. The panel would also make all advice made...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: Fears of rebound in Hong Kong as mandatory testing order expanded for Yau Tsim Mong district
The Covid-19 cluster in in Jordan and Yau Ma Tei continues to spread, with 55 confirmed positive cases and 80 preliminary positive cases recorded on Sunday. Most of the cases were identified by a temporary testing centre in Yau Ma Tei, as residents from specified buildings nearby have been ordered to undergo mandatory testing. Of the 55 confirmed cases, 16 cases had unknown sources, 4 cases were imported, health authorities said. In the press briefing Sunday, the head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said that “identifying more cases was somewh...
Hong Kong Free Press
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At least 11 dead over the weekend as cold weather bites in Hong Kong
Hong Kong recorded at least 11 deaths over the weekend under the cold weather warning as the city suffered the impact of a winter monsoon near the coast of Guangdong. The city reported the deaths of six men and five women on Saturday and Sunday in various districts – the youngest aged 54. The causes of their deaths are to be confirmed, but they are suspected to be related to the cold temperatures. The police received multiple reports of elderly people collapsing in their homes or on the streets as Hong Kong recorded a lows of nine degrees Celsius in urban areas on Saturday. The Centre for Heal...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: Hong Kong extends ban on travel from UK, South Africa and 21-day quarantine period
Hong Kong has extended its ban on all commercial flights from the UK and South Africa until further notice to guard against new and more infectious Covid-19 strains detected in both countries, describing the situation in Britain as “grim”. “The epidemic situation worldwide remains severe, with cases of the more transmissible new virus variant detected in an increasing number of places,” said a government statement late Thursday. “The situation in the UK, where the new virus variant was first discovered, has further deteriorated in the past two weeks. England is under lockdown again until mid-F...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: Hong Kong to set up Kai Tak command centre as public urged to avoid unnecessary gatherings despite fall in infections
Hong Kong’s government will set up a command centre at Kai Tak next week to conduct enhanced Covid-19 contact tracing, authorities confirmed on Thursday. Around 1,000 officers from the city’s disciplined services — including police, immigration and customs officers– will be allocated to the centre next week, according to the Centre for Health Protection’s Head of Communicable Diseases Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan. Around 100 members of the personnel will be from the police force. Chuang added that the amount of personnel allocated to the centre will be reviewed according to the situation and that offic...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: More than 700 penalty tickets given over Christmas and New Year’s Day, as new clusters emerge
Over 700 penalty tickets were handed out between Christmas and New Year’s day for coronavirus social distancing rule violations, Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung said on Sunday. The city’s no.2 official added that while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases may seem to be dropping, infection numbers might rebound after the Christmas and New Year holidays, and that the situation was worrying. Cheung urged the public in a blog post to be “self-disciplined and cooperative,” keep to anti-epidemic rules and follow the government’s call in order to protect the health of themselv...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: 3 estate buildings wrongly put under compulsory testing as Hong Kong sees 68 new infections
Residents and visitors of three estate buildings were wrongly told to undergo compulsory coronavirus testing. It comes as the city reported 68 infections on Thursday, 62 of which were locally transmitted cases – 18 cases had unknown origins. The government announced on Tuesday that visitors and residents of a building would have to be tested if two unrelated coronavirus infections were recorded within 14 days. A list of 43 buildings were then released on Wednesday. Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, announced on Thursday that three buildings w...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Covid-19: Gov’t barring Hongkongers returning from UK, despite earlier stance on returnees from China
A London-based Hong Kong citizen has written an open letter the city’s leader to call for a review on the ban on UK flights amid fears over a mutant coronavirus strain in Britain. According to the letter addressed to Chief Executive Carrie Lam circulated online, an individual who claimed to be a “concerned Hong Kong citizen, stranded in the UK” criticised the ban on UK arrivals as “abandoning” Hongkongers abroad. “This has left many Hong Kong citizens, both in and out of the city, not only stranded but in the dark about how to plan their next steps,” the letter read. The person who penned the ...
Hong Kong Free Press
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Let’s use the vaccination drive as a baby step towards healing Hong Kong society
By Hari Kumar As Hong Kong awaits the arrival of coronavirus vaccines, the government should be preparing the ground to ensure its inoculation drive is more popular than the universal mass testing organised earlier this year, when 1.7 million people volunteered. The government decision to acquire vaccines from Sinovac, a mainland firm, even before it has published its third phase results, has reportedly raised objections from some experts. Chief Executive Carrie Lamdismissed such talk as rumours and asked Hongkongers not to politicise the matter. Still the head of the Public Doctors Associatio...
Hong Kong Free Press
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