Stay home, party lawmakers asked as term begins

The first meeting of the new Legislative Council term will be held tomorrow likely without 20 lawmakers who attended a birthday party that has sprung an Omicron cluster.

The 20 were required to undergo tests and quarantine after they attended the party of National People's Congress deputy Witman Hung Wai-man - also the principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority - on January 3 at Reserva Iberica restaurant in Wan Chai.

Two of the more than 200 attendees have so far tested positive for Omicron.

Four lawmakers - Rock Chen Chung-nin, Duncan Chiu, Benson Luk Hon-man and Wendy Hong Wen - need to be quarantined for 21 days at Penny's Bay. But the other 16 who left before the infected woman arrived were allowed to leave the quarantine camp on Saturday.

Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said the first meeting will be held "as normal," and he "strongly advised" the 16 lawmakers to stay at home where "they can watch the online broadcast."

Leung said there will not be any special arrangement to allow the 20 lawmakers to join the meeting online. "Legco meetings can only be held two ways: all attending a physical meeting or all of us having the meeting on Zoom. There's no hybrid mode where some attend physical meetings while others join the meetings online," Leung said.

"I think the law is very simple. The resolution will be that if we cannot hold physical meetings, then we will switch to Zoom mode."

But Leung said he does not have the power to ban lawmakers from attending and it is up to legislators themselves to decide whether they will attend.

Among the 16 lawmakers, Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan, Nixie Lam Lam, Lillian Kwok Ling-lai, Lai Tung-kwok, Eunice Yung Hoi-yan, Judy Chan Ka-pui and Kenneth Fok Kai-kong said they will not attend the meeting and just watch its live broadcast.

Amy Chan Wing-sum, 43, a Hong Kong and Macau Fellowship Association of Shenzhen Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese committee member, was confirmed to be infected with Omicron. She went to the party with Celia Wong Sze-nga, 37, who was earlier confirmed with Omicron.

NPC deputy Ma Ho-fai, who had dinner with Chan at the Jockey Club Happy Valley Racecourse on January 5, has been classified as a close contact. Ma said he and his wife were sent to Penny's Bay.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, Centre for Health Protection's head of communicable disease branch, said the number of people at the party appears to be at least 214, many of whom have contacted health authorities. At least 104 have been sent to Penny's Bay.

"We hope that we have found all the guests but we cannot exclude the possibility that there are still others who have not come forward yet," she said.

Chuang said there was no surveillance camera at the Wan Chai restaurant.

Separately, the Fire Services Department said it has complied with anti-epidemic rules when it organized a lunch gathering with an estimated 100 guests last Tuesday. It was reported that the banquet organized at Tsim Sha Tsui police station was attended by director of Fire Services Joseph Leung Wai-hung and director of architectural services Winnie Ho Wing-yin.

A fire services spokesman said the event was conducted in accordance with anti-epidemic rules and all participants wore masks when they were not eating.

Meanwhile, Starry Lee Wai-king, head of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, was elected Legco House Committee chairwoman while insurance sector lawmaker Chan Kin-por is the new Finance Committee chairman.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com