#16.556
Three days ago, in South Korea & Hong Kong Set New COVID Daily Records, we looked at how the more transmissible Omicron variant was making inroads in Asian nations that previously had kept good control of community transmission.
At that time, Hong Kong had set a new daily record of 342 cases. Yesterday, they broke 600 cases. And today, according to local media, they will report in excess of 1,160 cases.
The following graph from Our World In Data hasn't been updated to include today's numbers, but gives us a pretty good idea how quickly the wheels have fallen off in Hong Kong over the past week.
While the Omicron variant has proved to be `milder' than Delta, it is far from benign, with the WHO reporting nearly 68,000 COVID deaths over the past 7 days.
This statement from https://www.news.gov.hk/While most of the rest of the world has resigned itself to the inevitable spread of Omicron, today Hong Kong has announced their strictest pandemic control measures since the outbreak began.
(translated)
Gathering restrictions tightened, first ban on multi-family gatherings in private premises
February 8, 2022
The government announced to tighten social distancing measures , and the scope of listed premises has been expanded to cover places of worship, shopping malls, supermarkets, markets, barber shops, etc. Among them, places of worship and barber shops must be closed from Thursday. The gathering restriction order has been tightened to two people, and gatherings of more than two families are prohibited in private premises.
The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said in a meeting with the media today that the Executive Council has passed amendments to a number of regulations under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, Chapter 599. Among them, the scheduled premises required under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) have been increased by 6 items from the original 17 items, including places of worship, shopping malls, department stores, supermarkets, markets Or a market, barbershop or hair salon.
The closure order applicable to catering premises and listed premises, which originally expired on the 18th of this month, is now extended to the early morning of the 24th of this month. Places of worship, barber shops and hair salons must be closed from Thursday until the 24th of this month.
The "Vaccination Pass" will be implemented on the 24th of this month. All people entering the listed premises must use the "Safe Travel" mobile application and provide vaccination records. The catering premises will implement the pilot program in advance.
The authorities also introduced the use of "vaccine passports" in other premises by administrative means, including schools, universities, premises receiving government funding such as youth centres, and public sector offices.
As for the group gathering limit in public places, it will be tightened from four to two. For the first time, the authorities also extended the restriction order to private premises, prohibiting cross-household gatherings of more than two families in private premises.
For those who do not comply with the compulsory testing, the authorities have increased the penalties. For those who violate the compulsory testing order or the compulsory testing when the compulsory testing is enclosed, the fixed fine is doubled from 5,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan.
Carrie Lam said that the government will revise the Employment Ordinance to avoid labor disputes caused by anti-epidemic work. Where it is required to use a "vaccine passport" to go to work, if an employee refuses to be vaccinated and is dismissed by the employer, it will not be regarded as unreasonable dismissal in the future.
After the amendments to the law, if an employer dismisses an employee who is unable to go to work due to compulsory quarantine or quarantine, it will constitute unreasonable dismissal.
In addition, the compulsory quarantine order or medical certificate issued by the Department of Health for those who are subject to compulsory quarantine or enclosed compulsory testing can be regarded as a sick leave certificate, and eligible employees can apply for sick leave.
Carrie Lam pointed out that the Labour and Welfare Bureau will revise the legislation as soon as possible and submit the draft to the Executive Council for approval and then to the Legislative Council for discussion.
She reiterated that citizens should work together to fight the epidemic and reduce going out, so that the authorities have time and space to quickly detect cases and deal with them quickly.
She said that the large-scale implementation of the "vaccine passport" will help increase the vaccination rate, protect the citizens of Hong Kong, and keep the medical system from collapsing, so that citizens can return to normal life as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, in South Korea the numbers keep rising as well. On Sunday, the ROK reported 36,000+ cases, and today that number is just shy of 50,000.
With the number of daily COVID cases continuing to rise, South Korea today announced their intention to drop their vaunted 'test and trace' strategy, with a senior health official stating `The aim is to diagnose and treat high-risk groups to "prevent the collapse of the medical system and the deterioration of social and economic function".
Mainland China continues to insist that they have COVID nearly completely under control, reporting only 110 new cases, and their official count of the number of COVID deaths remains unchanged now (n=4636) for over a year.
The latest situation of the new coronavirus pneumonia as of 24:00 on February 8
Release time: 2022-02-09 Source: Office of Health Emergencies
From 0 to 24:00 on February 8, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 110 new confirmed cases. Among them, 37 were imported cases (18 cases in Guangdong, 9 cases in Shanghai, 5 cases in Guangxi, 2 cases in Fujian, 1 case in Beijing, 1 case in Tianjin, and 1 case in Sichuan), including 4 cases that were converted from asymptomatic infections to confirmed cases (Beijing). 1 case, 1 case in Guangdong, 1 case in Guangxi, 1 case in Sichuan); 73 local cases (72 cases in Guangxi, all in Baise City; 1 case in Liaoning, in Huludao City), including 2 cases converted from asymptomatic infections to Confirmed cases (all in Guangxi). No new deaths were reported. No new suspected cases were reported.
While China's often draconian Zero-COVID policies have undoubtedly kept cases (and deaths) relatively low - the above numbers should be taken with a large grain of salt - much as we do with China's `strategic' reporting on avian flu.
Between the Olympics, the 2022 Lunar New Year travel season, China's reliance on a Sinovac COVID vaccine that offers limited protection, and the repeated introduction of Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) to the region, the chances that China and Hong Kong can keep control of COVID going forward seem increasingly remote.
While China may not be completely forthcoming as to what is happening inside their borders, Hong Kong - which is pursuing similar Zero-COVID measures - is far more open, and will likely reflect the sort of challenges that are being faced on the mainland.
Stay tuned.
