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Hong Kong will check its total inhabitants of seven.5 million folks for Covid-19 in March, its chief stated, because it grapples with its worst outbreak pushed by the Omicron variant.
The inhabitants can be examined 3 times in March, stated Hong Kong’s chief government, Carrie Lam. She stated testing capability can be boosted to 1 million a day or extra. “Since we’ve a inhabitants of some 7 million folks, testing will take about seven days,” she stated.
Hong Kong has reported about 5,000 new each day infections since 15 February, with the circumstances threatening to overwhelm its healthcare system. Because the present surge started originally of the yr, it has recorded practically 54,000 circumstances and 145 deaths.
The order for mass testing got here after mainland Chinese language authorities dispatched epidemiologists, well being staff and different medical assets final week to assist include the outbreak within the semi-autonomous Chinese language metropolis.
Hong Kong has largely aligned itself with mainland China’s “zero-Covid-19” coverage, which goals to completely stamp out outbreaks, at the same time as many different international locations are shifting their strategy to residing with the virus.
Lockdowns of total cities have been imposed in numerous areas of the mainland, however Lam stated no such measure was being thought of in Hong Kong as a result of it was “not sensible”.
She additionally denied that the central Chinese language authorities was giving directions to Hong Kong on how you can deal with the epidemic.
“I reiterate that the central authorities by no means issued any directions on our anti-epidemic work,” she stated. “The central authorities will supply help as wanted or upon our request, however after all we are going to at all times alternate our views.”
The “zero-Covid-19” technique signifies that Hong Kong authorities typically take measures comparable to locking down residential estates for mass testing when constructive circumstances are detected, imposing strict quarantine necessities on travellers and ordering the shuttering of companies.
The fast surge of infections has threatened to overwhelm Hong Kong’s healthcare system.
Well being officers stated final week that hospitals had been already at 90% of capability and isolation services had been full. Individuals who check constructive for the virus in Hong Kong should be admitted to both a hospital or a quarantine facility.
Lam acknowledged on Tuesday that town’s isolation services had been “severely insufficient” and that it was “working very arduous with the total help of the central authorities” to construct extra.
Present social distancing measures, comparable to a ban on eating at eating places after 6pm and the closure of companies comparable to gyms and bars, will probably be prolonged till 20 April.
“This isn’t excellent news to the sectors affected, however actually at this stage of the pandemic we’ve no selection however to take these measures,” Lam stated. She stated town hoped to spice up its vaccination fee to 90% by early March.
Different measures introduced on Tuesday embrace ending the varsity yr early and transferring the conventional July-August summer time holidays ahead to March and April in order that colleges may be become services for testing, isolation and vaccination.
Flight bans from international locations categorised as excessive danger, together with Australia, Canada, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the US, will probably be prolonged to twenty April.
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