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The government should stringently screen inbound tourists who are sick and nasal swap tests should become a must for those with a fever even during the non-pandemic period, said health experts including Covid advisor Yuen Kwok-yung in a joint article published on Thursday.
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In the article published in Ming Pao, the experts also suggested screening tourists from disease hotspots like Africa and the Middle East where outbreaks of Ebolavirus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome often occur.
They also believe tourists should wear a mask at all times and undertake epidemiological tracking, and authorities should minimize exemptions on border controls so as to prevent infections from entering Hong Kong.
The experts said no one knows when the next pandemic will come and called for earlier detection so that the source of the disease will be extinguished before it continues to grow and ultimately becomes a large-scale outbreak.
They also expect Hongkongers to adopt the mindset that normalcy is like war time and vice versa, and when the city is hit by another pandemic, it can still operate as usual without having to suspend work, school, and logistics. And citizens can live their lives normally.
The experts also suggested enhancing the public hygiene standards and the contingency testing capabilities.
The Hospital Authority and the Department of Health should have the facilities, manpower and techniques to swiftly expand the coverage of all kinds of nucleic acid testing. Therefore public hospitals can commence the pandemic mode even at short notice.
The anti-pandemic equipment of private hospitals and clinics should be in line with the public ones so that it can help alleviate the burden on public hospitals during the next pandemic.
The team of experts called on authorities to study taking out old elderly homes in phases and outlining anti-pandemic standards for newly built high-floor homes.
