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Doctors are seeing more cases a day than they had in previous outbreaks, and a number of infections with unknown origin have made the outbreak harder to contain. A fourth wave of Covid-19 infections is looming in Hong Kong, experts say. Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of HKU’s faculty of medicine, said community outbreaks had been curbed largely because there were only a few remaining chains of transmission locally, and they had not come together to initiate a new wave of infections.

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An Auction House Is Selling the Bar From Hilter’s Yacht. Infections swept through the city, affecting care homes for the elderly and disabled, public hospitals, detention facilities, wet markets and a container terminal.

A Hong Kong health official said Thursday that the city was considering options for mandatory testing as it prepared for a new wave of coronavirus infections. Isaac Lawrence/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. The measures, which take effect from Wednesday, are the first time the densely populated city has completely banned dining in restaurants. Adding to the strain, many isolation wards in Hong Kong are crowded with young patients who show no symptoms of the virus but are required to stay until they test negative. The government has said it would build a large quarantine center by the end of the year to accommodate 2,000 people, which could help ease overcrowding if cases rise again later in the year when the temperature drops. Including the Monday cases, Hong Kong has recorded 1,522 cases of infection and eight deaths. “The situation is very serious, and there is no sign of it coming under control,” Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, said on Sunday as she announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. “The situation is very worrying,” said Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, adding that the current outbreak is the most severe the city has experienced.

The authorities have said a health code system has been prepared to allow Hongkongers living on the mainland to come to the city to visit their families, once they obtain a negative Covid-19 test result. Research has shown that imported cases played a key role in spreading the virus in the community in the first three waves of the infections – the first was triggered mainly by a pair of tourists arriving from the mainland, the second by students and working people returning from Europe and North America, and the third by sea and aircrew who were exempted from quarantine. The Chinese-ruled territory, with a population of more than 7 million, in July halted dine-in services from 6 p.m. as concerns grew of a third wave of infections but allowed restaurants and cafes to function through the day as normal. Hong Kong Records Its Biggest Rise in Coronavirus Cases as New Wave of Infections Crashes Into Asia Travelers arrive at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong on Mar. Leung stressed that any reopening of borders and shortening of quarantine periods must be backed by science. There were seven deaths in those two waves. After weeks without any cases of local transmission of the coronavirus, recent days have seen numbers climb again. Commuters wearing face masks at a light rail station on Sunday. Of the nine, seven were local transmissions. “One needs to be careful when the border is reopened,” Hui said. At the peak of the third wave in July, it shot past three. Earlier in the day, Chief Executive Carrie Lam hit back at health experts who criticised the universal testing programme – a move she said is politically motivated.

“From a … The move was part of a wave of new measures announced on Monday e…

Cinemas in Hong Kong are closing their doors again from Wednesday night as the city suffers a third wave of the deadly coronavirus. In the first of a three-part series, the Post looks at when and why a spike in infections is expected and how the flu season can get in the way of containing the coronavirus.. Hong Kong is on the brink of a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections because of a combination of factors, from untraceable …

Hong Kong’s confirmed daily Covid-19 tally has steadily declined from the highs of more than 100 three weeks ago to Monday’s nine new infections. Hong Kong was also not yet anywhere near achieving herd immunity, when a large enough number of people – about 60 per cent of the population – become immune to Covid-19, making it less likely to spread.

The city’s Covid-19 death toll also rose sharply to 105 as of last Friday, with elderly people accounting for most of the dead. But Who’s Buying? Schools were open. Many residents have attributed the outbreak to people who have entered Hong Kong recently without undergoing the standard 14-day quarantine. It moved quickly to tighten its borders and impose quarantine rules, containing outbreaks traced first to travelers from mainland China and then to Hong Kong residents returning from Europe and the United States.

The 33-year-old man, who works in IT, recovered from Covid-19 in April only to test positive again this month after returning to Hong Kong from a Spain trip. Experts are in favour of a massive flu vaccination campaign this year, because dealing with a surge in Covid-19 infections could become complicated if winter brings a sharp increase in cases of flu.

So, he is worried that with the recent easing of restrictions, allowing the reopening of venues such as bars, cinemas and karaoke lounges, the next spike in infections could happen anytime now. TPG/Getty Images In recent days, some medical professionals have raised doubts about the effectiveness of the free tests that would be carried out with the help of a medical team from the mainland. You can read this subscriber-only article in full, All done! The government is expanding its testing of residents, especially of those considered to be at a high risk of contracting the virus, including older adults, taxi drivers and restaurant workers. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. All rights reserved.

“We have quarantine facilities, but the stress on our hospital services is still tremendous,” she said. The move was part of a wave of new measures announced on Monday evening by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in response to a new surge in COVID-19 cases. Restaurants and malls buzzed with crowds. Medical workers say they worry that an influx of coronavirus patients could overwhelm the city’s crowded hospitals. After easing restrictions on daily life in recent weeks, Hong Kong officials are once again imposing tough measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Officials say they are processing about 10,000 tests a day, and health workers have distributed testing kits in residential compounds where clusters have emerged. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. “I am a bit worried that our fourth wave might start sooner than we were hoping,” said Professor Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong’s school of public health. “What we have learned from the last nine months of Covid-19 is that when we have infections locally and we are not doing much social distancing, numbers will tend to go up from week to week,” he said.

This article Coronavirus: when will Hong Kong’s fourth wave of Covid-19 hit? New social distancing measures will halt restaurant dining from 6 p.m. till 5 a.m. every day, and make mask-wearing mandatory on public transport at all times. The total number of cases has swollen five-fold from just over 1,000 in early July to 5,113 as of Sunday.

On Monday, University of Hong Kong researchers said they have documented the world’s first confirmed case of coronavirus re-infection, with genetic sequencing showing different strains of the virus. Very soon, experts warn. The measures will be in place for seven days, he said. © Copyright 2020 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. Separately, organisers of the Hong Kong Book Fair, which was postponed last month due to the third wave of coronavirus, announced  that the event will go ahead from Dec 16 to 22 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. Health care workers administered Covid-19 tests for taxi drivers in Hong Kong on Sunday. China’s liaison office in Hong Kong said on Sunday that the central government had made clear it would boost the city’s capacity in coronavirus tests and help set up hospitals especially for infected patients. “The population has very low herd immunity even though we have had about 5,000 cases,” Yuen said. Lifting social-distancing restrictions too swiftly, experts say, can open the door to fresh outbreaks. Most coronavirus patients, however, are in stable condition, with only 36 considered to be seriously or critically ill. A dozen people have died from the virus during the pandemic. Since late January, more than 2,700 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 20 of whom have died.

This is one of the city’s biggest cultural events, and in a normal year attracts over a million visitors. Professor Chan urged residents not to let their guard down and encouraged people to take up the free universal community testing for Covid-19 to be rolled out by the government from Sept 1. Arisina Ma, the president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors Association, said some patients with other conditions have waited months for procedures and might not be able to seek treatment if coronavirus cases continue to rise.