The SUN HK : Quarantine for Covid positive patients scrapped from Jan 30

By The SUN

The gloomy days inside an isolation facility like Penny's Bay will soon be over

Hong Kong will lift its quarantine mandate for all people who test positive for Covid-19 starting on Jan. 30, the first Monday after Lunar New Year.

This means that anyone who comes down with the coronavirus will no longer be required to isolate at home of at a community isolation facility.

The move was first announced this morning by Chief Executive John Lee when he appeared before the Legislative Council, and reiterated by his health officials during a press conference in the afternoon.

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CE Lee said Hong Kong has already achieved a strong immunity to the coronavirus after three years of the pandemic, and the risks posed by the disease have been significantly reduced due to improvements in the health care system.

He noted there had not been any “abnormalities” in Hong Kong 10 days its reopened its borders to the mainland. The city’s daily Covid tally has also dropped drastically, from around 30,000 cases in mid-December to around 3,000 now.

Lee said authorities must now move on from mandating Covid rules to treating it as any other upper respiratory tract infection.

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Given this approach, all infected residents who do not have symptoms can go to work and not wait until they test negative, said Centre for Health Protection controller Edwin Tsui at the press conference.

But to protect children and other young people, students are still advised (but no longer required) to test negative before returning to school, Tsui said.

He also said that in line with the new directive, all quarantine orders will expire by Jan 30 and those who are still in isolation facilities will be released in an orderly manner.

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The two online platforms for declaring test results for rapid antigen and PCR tests , as well as the telephone declaration system, will stop operating.

However, a few isolation facilities will be kept running for residents who might need them, Tsui added.

Those who want admitted to these facilities can stay no longer than seven days and will have to contact the Fire Services Department and test positive on a RAT before entry.

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“We will monitor the development of Covid-19, a respiratory endemic disease, the way we do for flu,” said Tsui.

Meanwhile, Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun said infected workers who want to apply for four days or more of paid sick leave starting Jan 30 must first obtain a doctor’s certificate.

The arrangements for Covid-positive workers will not be any different from those diagnosed with other disease, Sun said.

Hospital Authority's chief executive Tony Ko Pay-sing said Covid patients admitted to hospital will be charged medical fees from the cut-off date.

Non-eligible patients (or those without valid HK IDs) will have to pay the full price for their stay, and for the Covid drugs.

Ko also said the remote doctor consultation service will also be halted to allow the HA to allocate more resources for its other services, including non-emergency surgeries.

The mask mandate is not on the cards yet, however.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the wearing of masks played an important role in preventing the spread of Covid.

Lo also said Covid should not be treated lightly is different from flu just because it has now been categorized as “endemic.”