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Hong Kong will impose new social restrictions and ask more students to stay home as local cases spike further in about three months, signaling the arrival of a new wave and threatening a high-profile travel air bubble. with Singapore days before your launching.
The city reported 26 new infections on Friday, of which 21 are local. Nine of the local cases cannot be traced. The government has also detected more than 40 preliminary cases awaiting confirmation, a sign that Friday’s jump is not an anomaly. The spike comes as other parts of Asia, including Japan and South Korea, see alarming outbreaks as colder weather approaches.
Classes for elementary school levels 1-3 will be suspended beginning November 23 for two weeks. Kindergartens and nurseries have suspended for a week due to outbreaks of upper respiratory infection and the risks of a resurgence of the coronavirus. No student or school personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 yet, officials said.
“The Hong Kong epidemic has shown rapid deterioration and experts have said that the fourth wave is inevitable,” Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan said in a briefing on Friday. “We have taken a series of measures to strengthen control, but we are still seeing the situation get worse.”
The worsening comes two days before the former British colony launches an air travel bubble with Singapore’s financial center, in what is the world’s first non-quarantine travel deal open to all residents. Seen as a template for how to restart global travel, the bubble’s growing precariousness could now turn it into a warning about the futility of such efforts as the coronavirus remains rampant and volatile.
the The bubble would be suspended for two weeks once the seven-day moving average of local, untraceable cases in any of the cities exceeds five. Over the past seven days, Hong Kong has recorded 15 local, untraceable cases, slowly approaching the red line of 35.
With the first flights taking off on Sunday, travelers may face the possibility of the bubble being suspended before or during their travels.
The city will now make mass testing mandatory among certain groups, although officials did not specify which one. It is also considering measures such as increasing the number of people allowed to meet at local hotels during “vacation” trips. Chan urged all residents to stop “unnecessary” gatherings and wear masks at all times.
The government hopes the outbreak can be contained before reaching the level of the outbreak that started in early July, the worst in Hong Kong. Then, restrictions such as the prohibition of public gatherings of more than two people and the closing of restaurants between 6 pm and 5 am dealt a significant blow to the financial center’s economy.
(Updated with detailed case counts in the second and sixth paragraphs)
