140 may face jail time, fines over Covid wristband violations

About 140 Covid patients who left home or took off their electronic wristbands during their home isolation may face up to six months in jail and a HK$10,000 fine, while authorities are investigating 600 other suspected quarantine violators.

Hong Kong yesterday reported five deaths and 6,617 infections, with the daily caseload surpassing 6,000 for the fourth straight day.

The Centre for Health Protection's principal medical and health officer, Albert Au Ka-wing, said that since July 15 authorities have required at-home Covid patients to put on electronic wristbands, which are connected to the StayHomeSafe mobile application.

The smart bracelets will alert authorities if they record patients leaving their home, taking off their bracelets or deleting the app.

Au said of the 140 wristband-related cases, most left their homes and triggered the alert.

"Some of the cases were found to have left home to consult doctors or go to hospitals' accident and emergency departments, which was fine," he said.

"But we will follow up and investigate with law enforcement bodies the cases without valid reasons."

He called for self-isolated patients to stay at home and warned of penalties of up to six months behind bars and HK$10,000 fine.

Health authorities are investigating more than 600 suspected quarantine violators, believed to be close contacts and overseas arrivals.

But Au said authorities are still collecting data on whether any of the cases have involved amber code holders, who are overseas arrivals observing medical surveillance and banned from entering mask-less premises during the fourth and seventh days after landing in the SAR.

He said since the outbreak of Covid in December 2019, 260 people have been convicted of breaching isolation rules and have been sentenced to up to four months of imprisonment and a HK$15,000 fine.

Au also reminded the public to comply with compulsory testing notices, as failure to follow the directions is an offense liable for a fixed HK$10,000 fine and serious cases can draw six months in jail and a HK$25,000 fine.

Those failing to comply with test notices will be slapped with test orders and a further breach of that will constitute an offense with six months in jail and a HK$50,000 fine.

By Saturday, health authorities had issued more than 7,000 HK$10,000 fine tickets and 25,000 test orders.

On updates, Au said the fresh cases were 237 imported and 6,380 locally transmitted, which is a single-day high for several months.

He said the prevalence of the most infectious Omicron subvariant BA5 has risen to 34.1 percent and he expected it to surpass 50 percent in the coming weeks, adding people should opt for masks with high protection when going to crowded places.

Thirteen care homes reported new infections in 21 residents and two staff, and 100 residents were sent to AsiaWorld-Expo for quarantine.

The five latest fatalities were four men and a woman aged 63 to 96, taking the city's toll in the fifth wave to 9,397.

With 2,100 patients staying in public hospitals, the Hospital Authority reactivated 200 beds in the community treatment facility in AsiaWorld-Expo yesterday.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com