By The SUN
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| Lo says the govt strategy is to open HK to the rest of the world as soon as possible |
Lifting the compulsory quarantine for inbound
travelers appears to be still on the cards, after Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau
said Saturday that the government strategy is to resume international connection
as soon as possible.
“This is always on our strategy list,” said Lo in a
talk with the media after speaking on a radio program. However, he did not give
any time frame for lifting the three-day hotel quarantine, which is followed by
four days of medical surveillance.
He was responding to a question on when Hong Kong
might return to a period of normalcy.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Lo also gave an indication that the health code system
adopted for the “three-plus-four” quarantine system is working, saying they
have not found a single inbound traveler on an amber code entering restaurants.
Thus the government is now looking at moving on to the
“zero plus seven” model, meaning, dispensing with hotel quarantine and just
putting all new arrivals under the amber code for seven days.
Lo still urged caution, however, saying the recent
easing of the fatality rate due to Covid is not the only factor to be
considered, but the additional burden on the public healthcare system as more
than 350 infected patients are still being admitted to hospitals on a daily
basis.
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He made his comments after two big international
events traditionally held in Hong Kong have been put on hold or moved to
another place where travelers are not made to undergo quarantine.
The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon slated for Nov
20 has been canceled after organizers failed to get immediate government
approval, while the 16th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships has been moved
to Thailand.
However, a cross-harbor swim fest sponsored by New
World Development will go ahead as scheduled on Oct 23, as well as the Rugby
Sevens in November.
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| PRESS FOR DETAILS! |
Meanwhile, the number of Covid infections remained
steady today at 8,278, which included 129 imported cases.
The death tally rose to 16, of whom 10 did not
complete three vaccine doses. They included the four-year-old boy whose death
was reported yesterday, and 15 others aged 56 to 98. Most had chronic ailments.
The additional deaths took the overall tally in the
fifth wave to 9,655.
Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority said that as of
this morning, 2,690 patients were receiving treatment in public hospitals.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
Among them, 56 are in critical condition and 54 are
seriously ill. Sixteen of those listed as critical are being treated in
intensive care units.
Of the 129 imported cases, 52 were detected at the
airport, 37 during hotel quarantine and 33 between days 4 to 7 after arrival.
Seven others were found after this period, but are suspected to be re-positive
cases.
Two countries were the source of more than 10 positive
cases – 20 had flown in from the United States and 18 from the Philippines.
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PADALA NA!
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