Hong Kong is fighting against the worst Covid outbreak since the start of the epidemic as some residents are trying to cross the border with mainland China, despite a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a government-approved hotel in Shenzhen. Hong Kong reported more than 1,000 cases for the first time on February 9 and the numbers rose further in subsequent days.
The Chinese government is sending millions of testing kits and several medical teams to Hong Kong to help contain the outbreak and will also help in building temporary hospitals as the city's hospitals are overwhelmed by new cases. Hong Kong broke a new daily record with 2,071 confirmed and around 4,500 suspected Covid-19 cases reported on February 14. Around 10,000 infected people were waiting to be admitted to hospital.
Earlier analysis showed that about 55% of those infected had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, of which 55.4% were suspected to have Omicron and 49% believed to have Delta. The average age of suspected Omicron cases was 39, while for the Delta cases it was 50. To boost the vaccination drive, the government also announced that children as young as three would be allowed this week to receive the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.
Hong Kong has beefed up social restrictions, limiting the number of social gatherings to two people and closing public venues such as hair salons and religious buildings. At some testing stations there were queues of 5,000 people. Daily testing capacity is expected to increase from 200,000 to 300,000. Quarantine and medical treatment facilities were filled to capacity and patients with mild symptoms were placed under home quarantine. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong said the city should consider a full lockdown or risk seeing nearly 1,000 deaths by mid-June. Their modeling predicted that the outbreak will peak in mid-to-late March with 28,000 infections and 468 hospitalizations a day. Hong Kong has to stick with its zero-Covid strategy if it hopes to get the border with mainland China opened to boost its economy.
A new facility – the Huo-Yan Laboratory in the New Territories, set up by China's BGI – will gradually be put into operation from the middle of this month to increase the processing capacity for Covid tests. The virus has spread at a staggering speed, with the number of infections rising from just three linked with imported cases in December to more than 4,000 local cases in the past two weeks, coinciding with Lunar New Year festivities.
Doctor Leung Chi-chiu at the Hong Kong Medical Association warned that the city’s medical system would face unbearable pressure if the epidemic cannot be brought under control quickly. The supply of fresh vegetables from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong, disrupted earlier by infections detected among some cross-border truck drivers, has gradually returned to normal, reaching around 90% of the usual level. Authorities are considering rolling lockdowns based on districts, with each area possibly broken up into small sections for mass testing.
An outbreak in Baise, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region near the Vietnamese border, is now under control following a strict lockdown with 3.6 million residents banned from leaving home, except for mass testing. Schools were shut, public transport suspended and most businesses closed to contain the outbreak within one incubation period.
China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has given conditional approval for Pfizer's Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid. It is the first anti-coronavirus oral drug approved in China. Paxlovid will be used to treat adult patients who have mild to moderate symptoms with a high risk of turning into a severe case. These individuals include those who have underlying problems like chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease. Wang Guangfa, Respiratory Expert at Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times that the drug will complement China's already successful medical treatments by providing a needed drug for those with underlying diseases. It will play a positive role in treating patients but it will not prevent people from contracting the virus. It is only one part of the Covid-19 containment strategy, just like the vaccines. But Wang added that it is not the right moment for China to open to the world when overseas the epidemic is still rampant.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
