Quarantine cut for close contacts

The 21-day quarantine period for close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 patients was shortened to 14 days from yesterday to ease the burden at Penny's Bay quarantine center as the contagious Omicron variant spreads.

But the 21-day mandatory quarantine arrangement for arrivals from overseas was not changed.

The shortened quarantine came hours after calls from government pandemic advisers yesterday as 24 new infections were reported, including one of unknown source in a 20-year-old part-time saleswoman at the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay.

But authorities found a possible link to the second unknown Omicron source from a previously infected Cathay Pacific flight attendant.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch, said all close contacts of patients diagnosed from yesterday would get the shortened quarantine period.

But they will also need to observe seven days' home surveillance after the 14-day quarantine at Penny's Bay or designated quarantine hotels.

"The close contacts who are discharged from the quarantine center are advised to self-monitor their symptoms. If they have any symptoms, they are advised to seek medical attention or go for testing," Chuang said.

But she said they will not be subject to home quarantine and a bracelet or other measures as suggested by government pandemic advisor Yuen Kwok-yung.

"We've been seeing an increasing number of infections, thus more people have been classified as close contacts, creating huge pressure on the limited capacity at quarantine facilities," said Chuang.

She said most of the Omicron infections in Hong Kong were detected after two to three days of incubation, so after consulting the government advisers, authorities decided to reduce the quarantine period to 14 days from yesterday.

After that, close contacts will go home for seven days of medical surveillance but are required to take Covid tests again at community testing centers on the 19th day.

The 3,416-unit Penny's Bay quarantine center had only 445 units available at 9am yesterday, while the other three quarantine hotels - Silka Tsuen Wan, Cosmo Wan Chai and Dorsett Kwun Tong, offering a total of 912 units - have 462 rooms ready for use.

Yuen from the University of Hong Kong suggested allowing close contacts to observe seven days of home quarantine after 14 days in the camp on Lantau.

He called on authorities to tighten anti-Covid measures immediately, including suspending face-to-face classes and work-from-home arrangements, upon discovery of more transmission chains, as the contact tracing center in Kai Tak will not be able to catch up with the speed of outbreaks.

"The thing I most worry about is - and I have told the government this many times - that there are problems with the ventilation in schools as many of them could not meet the standards," Yuen said yesterday.

"If we have to continue fighting the virus, then we will have to do many things that we didn't do in the past, including having sufficient air changes."

Yuen's comments were echoed by another government adviser, David Hui Shu-cheong of Chinese University of Hong Kong, who said 14 days of quarantine at Penny's Bay is sufficient and authorities should consider letting students start the Lunar New Year holiday earlier.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday announced that Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi will provide another 150 rooms for quarantine for domestic helpers, starting from February 1, bringing the total hotel quarantine rooms for helpers to 650.

But the fee per room per night at the new hotel will be HK$700. For bookings made before February 1, the fee will still be HK$650.

Separately, three in four people agreed the government should take the lead in launching work from home and suspending face-to-face classes, a survey found.

Think tank HK Round Table On People's Livelihood surveyed 1,100 people on the phone and online between Friday and Sunday, and found 75 percent of respondents agreeing authorities should arrange for civil servants in back offices to work from home if local outbreaks take a turn for the worse, while 76 percent said face-to-face classes should be suspended in primary schools and kindergartens if more unknown source cases are detected.