Social distancing measures could be tightened further: Sophia Chan

Social distancing measures could be further tightened, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said on Sunday. 

With thousands of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases every day, there should be numerous transmission chains remaining in local communities, Chan said in a radio program this morning.

It is not possible to relax social distancing measures now. In contrary, the government is still considering how to tighten controls further, she said. 

Several mainland experts arrived in Hong Kong last Thursday and had meetings with local officials over the past few days. They also visited the contact tracing office of the Centre of Health Protection. 

They have shared their experiences on how to increase effectiveness and accuracy of epidemiological investigations over the past few days, Chan said. The experts were told about how Hong Kong collected environmental samples and sewage samples for testing, and how it conducted genetic sequencing for the coronaovirus. 

Separately, Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing said on Sunday that the big number of Covid-19 patients put big pressure on public hospitals.

Although most Omicron cases have mild symptoms, a small percentage of patients demanding hospitalization already strain the medical system due to the huge base of cases. 

Elderly people take up a bigger proportion of people who seek consultations at hospitals. They require more attention and cannot be discharged in short periods of time – posing difficulties for the beds to be vacated for new patients. 

Patients with less severe symptoms can visit seven designated Covid-19 clinics. The clinics saw attendance by around 800 people every day since their launch last week, Ko said. 

There are enough quotas at the clinics for the time being, and the authority will monitor the situation to see if it is necessary to expand services.