Between new COVID cases, a new system for airport arrivals, and a new record for the largest illicit public gathering since emergency measures came into force, there’s a whole lot of coronavirus-related news today. In the interest of expediency, we’ve summarized all the aforementioned stories for you right here:
First things first: 4 new infections detected
Following a one-day reprieve, coronavirus briefings were back in full swing today after four new infections were recorded in Hong Kong.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, the Center for Health Protection’s head of communicable diseases, said that all four cases were imported from the United States and United Kingdom, and were detected during mandatory testing at AsiaWorld-Expo.
Cases 1027 and 1028 are a married couple in their late 30s who returned to Hong Kong from the United States. Chuang said that Case 1028 first began experiencing muscle soreness and blocked sinuses on April 7, while Case 1027 began complaining of a sore throat and blocked sinuses on April 15. Both were taken to hospital directly after receiving their positive test results.
Case 1029 is a 13-year-old female student who traveled from the UK to Hong Kong with her mother. She did not exhibit any symptoms. Finally, Case 1030 is a 25-year-old man who was traveling alone from the UK. He was also asymptomatic.
Livin’ it up at the Hotel Quarantina Corona
Yesterday, the government announced its new plan to use a Kowloon hotel as a holding center for inbound travelers awaiting their coronavirus test results. Guests at the 4-star Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City were given short notice to vacate their rooms in order to accommodate the Department of Health’s temporary holding center.
While we were sorely tempted to dub the Regal Oriental “Hotel Quarantina” (it just works with the song, you guys), Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan stressed that the hotel was not being used for people in quarantine.
During a press conference this morning, Chan clarified that the hotel would only be used to house travelers whose flights landed in the afternoon or evening, as they have to wait overnight for their coronavirus test results. Travelers will be taken to the hotel via special transportation and will only stay at the hotel for one night, during which they are not allowed to leave their rooms.
As for why the Department of Health chose a city hotel rather than an airport hotel, Chan said it “wasn’t easy” to find a hotel that had a suitable infection control environment, among other (unspecified) factors. She also noted that the department would be working with the CHP to address concerns from Kowloon City residents.
Cops dole out HKD66k in fines to Tuen Mun residents
And finally, Hong Kong police set a new record for the number of fines issued to a large group for violating the government’s ban on large public gatherings last night.
After receiving a complaint, police found 23 men and 10 women, aged 33 to 78, at a park in Tai Hing Estate at 7pm yesterday. Officers issued HK2,000 fixed penalty notices to everyone present, totaling HKD66,000, for breaking rules about public gatherings of more than four people.
A source told the SCMP that a group of elderly residents often played card games in the park, and further stated that they believed this to be the largest group of people to be issued with tickets since the restriction on public gatherings came into force.
For the card loving crew’s sake, we hope at least one of them won big before getting slapped with a HKD2,000 fine… but we doubt it. And it looks like they won’t be getting back to their game for a while, since the CE announced this morning that social distancing measures would be extended another two weeks.
