Hong Kong Could See Over 10K Cases Next Week

Au (left) says the public needs to take safety precautions

Hong Kong is seeing a seriously large uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases -- the vast majority of them are local infections, not imported.

On August 25, the city reported 8,579 cases, including 297 imported ones.

Albert Au Ka-wing from the Centre for Health Protection warned the daily number of new infections could soon pass the 10,000 mark next week. The last time it reached 10,000 cases was on March 25 with 10,405 infections.

Police Commissioner Siu recently caught Covid

"There is a quite rapid increase in cases, indicating that the transmission in the community is increasing. There is a need for the general public to take additional precautionary measures in preventing transmission and infection," Au said.

Seems like that advice was not heeded by several senior government officials who have now caught the virus.

They include Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing and Commerce Secretary Algermon Yau Ying-wah, as well as immigration chief Au Ka-wang, and police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee.

With the number of cases surging, infectious diseases expert Leung Chi-chiu suggested that people cut down on their social activities.

"Now there are up to 5,000 hospital beds [for Covid patients]. If we have say 14,000 cases a day and every day around 500 are admitted to hospital for eight to nine days, our beds will all be occupied," he said.

Leung says socialising needs to be cut down

So basically people are back to being shut in their homes as much as possible in the sweltering heat, unable to meet with friends and family after their mental health has taken such a toll in almost three years.

People need to have some kind of hope, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel instead of constantly implementing more and more severe social-distancing measures.

It's no wonder more and more people are packing up and leaving Hong Kong. While for some it was the national security law, others have had enough of the city's "zero-Covid" strategy that seems to yield even more cases... 

Mystery VIP Possibly Coming to HK

Lee and Lam will quarantine for seven days for July 1

A super important guest may be coming to Hong Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover, and there are stipulations that anyone near this person must quarantine for seven days beforehand.

Hotels at the convention centre are booked up

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor refuses to clarify if Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be coming on July 1. But it seems the two hotels attached to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre -- the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel are completely booked up from June 23 to July 1.

About 1,000 staff, security guards and police officers will have to quarantine in case Xi shows up. Lam and her cabinet, as well as incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu and his entourage will also have to quarantine for a week too, even if they don't have direct contact with the Chinese leader.

Wonder who gets to quarantine in the presidential suites?

"We are of course eagerly anticipating a visit by a state leader, and I believe that as so many things have happened in the past five years, there must be some important speeches to make on charting the course for the further development of Hong Kong," said Lam, who with her team is making preparations for Xi to come -- if he does...

Like Lam, Lee and cabinet will be sworn in

It all depends on the city's Covid-19 situation. It definitely won't be zero-Covid, but how low would be low enough for Xi to make the trip is hard to say. On Wednesday Hong Kong reported 558 cases, which includes 63 imported infections.

In preparing the security detail, Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee said there would be unprecedented security in the area around the convention centre and even elite squads will be deployed.

"We cannot neglect the possibility of local terrorism and terrorist attacks. We have been making numerous arrests of people using genuine firearms and explosives," Siu said. "We have been able to interdict the activities, but there's no room for complacency... It will be a very full mobilisation of our officers to deal with these security operations."

Police chief not taking any chances with security

Sounds like it's best to just completely avoid Wan Chai altogether to prevent inadvertently crossing paths with these elite squads...