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 The restrictions were announced as health authorities scoured the
city for the contacts of a COVID-19 patient, some of whom had been
aboard a Royal Caribbean ship that was ordered to cut short its
"cruise to nowhere" and return to port.
Incoming flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan,
the Philippines, Britain and the United States, including
interchanges, would be banned from Jan. 8 to Jan 21, Hong Kong
leader Carrie Lam told reporters.
Lam said the government would ban indoor dining after 6.00 pm from
Friday, and close swimming pools, sports centres, bars and clubs,
museums, and other venues for at least two weeks. Future cruise
journeys would be cancelled.
"We're yet to see a fifth wave yet, but we're on the verge," Lam
said.
Hong Kong recorded 38 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, but only
one was a local community transmission, while the rest were people
who had returned to the city and tested positive during quarantine.
The global finance hub has stuck to a zero-tolerance strategy by
largely isolating itself from the world and enforcing a draconian
and costly quarantine regime.
On Dec. 31, a streak of three months without community cases ended
with the first local transmission of the Omicron variant.
Since then, authorities have scrambled to track down and test
hundreds of people who had been in contact with a handful of Omicron
patients. One patient, however, had no known links, raising fears of
a large outbreak.
"We are worried there may be silent transmission chains in the
community," Lam said.
Lam said the government would not suspend classes for the time being
"for the benefit of children".
In response to the outbreak fears, Standard Chartered Plc has
started operating in split teams in Hong Kong, a bank spokesperson
said.
[to top of second column] |
 DANCING CLUSTER
The latest contact tracing campaign was sparked
by a patient who danced with some 20 friends in
a central park on New Year's Eve. Two of the
fellow dancers, one of whom was a domestic
helper, came up positive in preliminary tests.
The helper's employer and eight other of her
close contacts then went on a cruise on Jan. 2.
As part of its coronavirus restrictions, Hong
Kong has restricted cruises to short trips in
nearby waters, with ships asked to operate at
reduced capacity and to only allow vaccinated
passengers who test negative for the virus.
The "Spectrum of the Seas" ship, which returned
a day early, had about 2,500 passengers and
1,200 staff on board. The nine close contact
passengers tested negative for the virus so far,
authorities said.
"Spectrum of the Seas is taking appropriate
measures under guidelines by the Department of
Health," Royal Caribbean told Reuters in a
statement.
The nine close contacts were sent to a
quarantine centre, while the rest of the
passengers and staff will have to undergo
several tests, the government said.
Additionally, people who have been to dozens of
places across Hong Kong around the same time as
the close contacts of recent patients have been
issued compulsory testing notices, the
government said in a separate statement.
Victoria Park, in downtown Hong Kong, the newly
opened M+ modern art museum, ferry piers,
restaurants, stores, clinics were among the
places listed.
Gabriel Leung, University of Hong Kong dean of
medicine and a government adviser, told public
broadcaster RTHK there were probably "five-to-10
invisible transmission chains" in the city.
"There’s no time to waste," Leung said. "We need
circuit-breaker measures."
(Reporting by Twinnie Siu, Jessie Pang, Edmond
Ng, Donny Kwok and Marius Zaharia; writing by
Marius Zaharia; Editing by Michael Perry & Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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