HK to further tighten social distancing measures

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong government on Tuesday announced it will further tighten the existing social distancing measures as the city saw an alarming number of infections amid the deteriorating fifth COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government will soon announce the details of the measures after the issue is discussed and passed in the Tuesday morning meeting.

Lam added that the meeting will focus on amending the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) to include more premises — such as schools — under the vaccine-pass program. The meeting will also discuss the rollout details of a new, sixth round of Anti-epidemic Fund, she added.

Lam said the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, on behalf of the central government, expressed on Monday its encouragement and support for Hong Kong's efforts to fight the community outbreak. She said more assistance from central government authorities is ready whenever Hong Kong needs it.

Starting from Tuesday, the government's Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre will be gradually converted to a community isolation center for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, close contacts of confirmed patients will self-isolate at home.

On Monday, the city recorded 614 new confirmed infections and over 600 preliminarily positive cases. The sources of 450 cases cannot be immediately known and were under investigation.

A total of 2,123 cases have been tested positive for the virus in the two weeks between Jan 24 and Feb 6, with 563 of them being or likely to be local cases.