Coronavirus: Hong Kong police arrest three more people for submitting fake Covid-19 results to authorities as city logs 672 new cases
- A paramedic, 38, and his barista girlfriend, 35, are among three arrested
- Police say three are suspected of uploading RAT results that did not belong to them
Hong Kong police have arrested three more people for submitting fake positive Covid-19 tests to the authorities, while the city’s health minister has pledged to verify all such results unless the city sees a significant rise in daily infections.
Two men and a woman, aged 24 to 38, were arrested in Chai Wan and Sai Kung on Thursday. Among them was a 38-year-old paramedic, who was also arrested for fraud, and his girlfriend.
Chief Inspector Cheng Chak-yan, of the police force’s cybersecurity and technology crime bureau, on Friday said the three were suspected of uploading the results of a rapid antigen test (RAT) that did not belong to them in March and April to obtain isolation orders issued by the government.
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Cheng said police believed they got the positive results from screenshots on the internet, or submitted old positive RAT tests. Police seized four phones, three tablets and a laptop in the operation.
“Such acts are very selfish and irresponsible, making it difficult for the government to get accurate information and they increase the pressure on citizens in facing the pandemic,” he told a press briefing.
Cheng said police would not tolerate violators of the law and would continue cooperating with other departments to fight Covid-19.
The 38-year-old paramedic was arrested for fraud as he tried to use a misleading positive RAT test result to obtain a recovery QR code. His girlfriend, 35, a barista, was also arrested for exposing others to infection.
All three were released on bail pending further inquiries.
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Health officials on Friday reported 672 new coronavirus infections, the second consecutive day the caseload was above 600. Among them were 59 imported cases. No Covid-related deaths were reported.
A female part-time worker, 46, at a quarantine hotel on Lantau Island was among the new cases and is suspected to be carrying the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant. Officials have yet to detect related cases at the Regala Skycity Hotel. If confirmed, it would be Hong Kong’s first local BA.4 case or the second BA.5 one found in the city.
Three schools were told to suspend three in-person classes for a week after 11 cases were reported. They include Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School in To Kwa Wan.
“Most of the infections at schools were scattered. We believe they are related to cases in the community,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection.
Three more cases were tied to a bar cluster in Central, taking the infection tally across the four nightspots involved to 305. Authorities said they believed the cluster first broke out at the Iron Fairies and J. Boroski bars on Hollywood Road, and subsequently spread to the Linq and Shuffle nightclubs after infected patrons visited them the following week.
The latest infections included 381 verified RAT results, including five preliminary ones reported in previous caseloads.
Health authorities changed their Covid-19 case reporting criteria on Tuesday, requiring residents who have submitted a positive RAT result to undergo a confirmation test. That came after officials found that up to 30 per cent of daily RAT positive cases were negative in follow-up checks, compared with the previous rate of 7 per cent.
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Earlier on Friday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said all positive RAT results were still subject to checks by polymerase chain reaction test before they were seen as confirmed cases, but this policy could be reviewed if the daily number of reports rose significantly.
“If the number of cases rises to a very high number, we will review the overall policy,” Chan told lawmakers on Friday.
She said there had been a slight increase in various epidemic indicators, although they remained at a low level. The average daily positive rate at community testing centres and mobile stations has risen to 0.18 per cent from 0.13 per cent in the previous week. Similarly, sewage surveillance had detected a small increase in the viral load per person.
Asked whether achieving zero infections would be the top priority for the resumption of quarantine-free travel with mainland China, Chan said further liaison was needed with authorities across the border.
“Whether there are some changes now, it will depend on the mainland’s decision,” she said, noting that according to past discussions zero infections was a prerequisite for quarantine-free travel.
Anyone caught knowingly providing false or misleading information to health authorities faces a fine of up to HK$10,000 (US$1,275) and six months’ imprisonment under disease control regulations.
Anyone who had used the false information to get sick leave or obtain a recovery record QR code could also face a conviction for fraud and a jail sentence of up to 14 years.
As of Friday, the Centre for Health Protection had transferred to police five cases of people submitting positive RAT results which were later found to be negative, resulting in six people being arrested. Police said the operation was ongoing and more arrests were possible.
The city’s Covid-19 tally stood at 1,217,514, with 9,390 related deaths.
