Electronic wristbands are back amid fears over possible Covid surge

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Migrant worker Marites Palma shows the electronic wristband
that she had to wear on returning to HK in 2020

From Friday, people infected with Covid-19 and under home isolation orders will be required to wear electronic wristbands to ensure they do not leave their homes and spread the virus in the community.

This was revealed by Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau at today’s press briefing. He said the new measure is a “more precise” approach to virus control, and merely ensures the law is complied with.

On top of this, Lo said he is pushing for a health code system which will limit the movements of people under isolation or quarantine, or new arrivals who are under medical surveillance.

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He made the announcement as he disclosed figures showing a marked increase not just in the daily caseload but also in the number of patients needing hospitalization or critical care.

Figures from the Centre for Health Protection showed an additional 2,863 infections Monday, of which 252 were imported. They took the total tally from the fifth wave to 1,273,917.

The daily death tally jumped to seven today, involving four men and three women aged 65 to 90 years old, all of whom had chronic illnesses. It marked a significant increase in the daily death tally in recent days, and pushed the overall figure to 9,206.

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The number of patients in hospitals also rose to 957, a significant number of whom are seriously ill. The Hospital Authority listed 17 who are in critical condition, five of whom are in intensive care units; and 31 in serious condition.

Graph shown by Lo shows a big jump in number of seriously ill patients

Lo said that given the current trend, the number of patients in hospital will top 1,000 “very soon,” with those in critical and serious condition also rising, adding pressure on the Hospital Authority.

Based on the worst-case scenario, he said the HA expects up to 312 patients being admitted to hospitals per day in late July, doubling to 625 in late August and 1,437 in early September.

This would result in bed occupancy rising accordingly from between 2,500 to 5,000, to between 5,000 to 11,500.

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This is why there is a need for the government to implement precise anti-epidemic measures that could help avert a renewed surge in cases, Lo said.

Under the planned health code system, the QR codes of infected patients - of whom more than 12,000 or 60% of the total tally are currently undergoing home quarantine - will turn red to signify they are not allowed to go out.

Newly arrived travelers who have completed their hotel quarantines but are still being monitored will in turn be given a yellow code, which restricts their movements.

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Lo said this group of people who are considered medium risk will be allowed to resume normal activities, such as going to work or school, but will not be able to enter high-risk premises such as hospitals and engage in mask-off activities, as eating in restaurants.

However, he said there are no current plans to bar them from taking public transport.

Further details will be disclosed later, Lo said.

Secretary Lo says lockdown is not part of the plan

Responding to reporters’ queries, Lo said the new measures are unique to Hong Kong, and were devised after taking the local infection situation into consideration.

"Every city is different. Hong Kong is very different from Shanghai or Macau, in terms of the total population, in terms of the age distribution, and also in terms of the vaccination as well as the fact that Hong Kong has already had the fifth wave which has caused widespread infections. We’ve paid the price,” he said.

“In addition, Hong Kong is a very international hub. All these are considered when we design our policy,” he added.

He said the new measures do not include plans for a citywide lockdown, such as the one that took effect in Macau starting today.

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