By The SUN
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| Three new mutant strains of the coronavirus have been found in Hong Kong |
More cases involving new
coronavirus sub-variants have been found, as the daily tally rose to 5,424 on
Saturday, including 312 that were imported.
Seven more Covid patients
were reported to have died.
The new cases included 23
involving the XBB sub-variant, two BA.2.75.2 and four BQ.1.1.
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So far, the SAR has seen 55
XBB cases, and five involving the BQ.1.1 sub-variant.
Despite the gradual increase
in the daily caseload, a government adviser on the pandemic, David Hui, said
this was to be expected as more new variants enter the city.
Speaking to reporters after a
radio program, Hui said people should not get overly worried as Hong Kong has a
high vaccination rate and the vaccines are effective against the new mutant
strains.
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Besides, there is a
significant number of people who acquired hybrid immunity after coming down
with the coronavirus recently.
Hui said the real-time virus reproductive
number now stands at around 1.27 – meaning, an infected person can pass on the
virus at that ratio – so the infection rate is likely to rise for now.
But he said statistics show that there has
been no increase in the number of severe and fatal cases, so people should not
worry too much.
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Thus, he said it is just right for the government
to allow up to 12 people to gather in public from the current four, especially
since restaurants are allowed to sit up to a dozen people per table.
But he said the vaccine pass and the PCR tests on arriving travelers should continue, at least for now.
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"If you don't perform PCR, you can't perform genome sequencing – you can't monitor new variants coming in to Hong Kong," he said.
But he says follow-up tests
after arrival could be done through rapid antigen tests, and new arrivals could
be allowed to enter restaurants by showing a negative RAT result.
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Under the existing 0+3
arrangement, inbound travelers are required to undergo three more PCR tests
over a seven-day period. They are also given a yellow code, which bars them
from entering restaurants and other premises deemed “high risk.”
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