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HONG KONG – The launch of the travel bubble deal between Singapore and Hong Kong is expected to be further delayed as the Chinese territory sinks under tougher social distancing measures in anticipation of what health authorities have warned that it could be the worst wave of Covid-19 yet. .
Officials in both cities are expected to announce the extension of the postponement soon, The Straits Times understands.
The first flight was originally planned for November 22, but both governments announced the delay on November 21. Authorities at the time said they would review the situation and make a decision in early December.
The extension would not be a surprise as the seven-day moving average of unknown local cases in Hong Kong as of Monday (Nov. 30) was 16. The threshold agreed by Singapore and Hong Kong is five cases.
So far, Hong Kong has a total of more than 6,300 cases, including 109 deaths. The number of new infections daily has exceeded 70 for more than a week.
This increase was initially led by a growing group of dance clubs of more than 500, the majority of which are Tai-Thai and their young dance instructors.
Professor Ben Cowling, an infectious disease expert at the University of Hong Kong, said he expected the fourth wave to start earlier when measures were relaxed in September, as there is always a risk that transmission will re-emerge if reintroduced. infections.
“I think the priority now has to be to strengthen social distancing measures, taking as a reference the measures that were effective to stop the second and third waves in March-April and July-August respectively. That includes recommending officials to work from House”. and closing of gyms and other leisure facilities, ”he said.
Last week, the government issued a series of orders, from ordering dance club visitors to undergo mandatory testing to ordering customers of specific restaurants to undergo the tests as the virus circulates.
Beginning December 2 for two weeks, dinner services will end two hours early at 10 pm, with a limit of two per table. Bars, pubs, saunas, clubs, discos and nightclubs will be closed.
All amusement game centers, entertainment venues, museums, cinemas, theme parks, karaoke establishments, mahjong clubs, and swimming pools must be closed.
Gyms, massage parlors and beauty parlors can remain open, but the number of clients must be limited to two, while staff members must work from home and public gatherings are limited to two.
The tightening of the measures comes as local broadcasts, particularly among the rich and powerful of the city, have spread like wildfire, initially with some members of high society linked directly to the group of dance clubs and later, expanded as they continued to mix over meals and mahjong.
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