Coronavirus: Hong Kong not ready yet to lift last entry restrictions on arrivals, John Lee says citing rising infections
- Chief Executive John Lee says keeping Covid situation under control will provide ‘a much stronger basis’ in talks on reopening border with mainland China
- Lee notes upwards trend in daily infections while number of imported cases has risen to about 300 a day since hotel quarantine was removed
Hong Kong’s leader has cautioned against pushing ahead with lifting three days of medical surveillance for inbound travellers, saying “a steady and orderly” approach is needed as imported coronavirus cases have seen a more than twofold increase since hotel quarantine was axed.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who has faced mounting pressure from the business sector to get the border with mainland China fully reopened, also said that keeping the pandemic situation under proper control would provide “a much stronger basis” for talks on the situation.
“The proportion [of imported cases] is quite large, and new subvariants have also entered Hong Kong,” Lee said before the Executive Council’s weekly meeting on Tuesday.
“Even though the current assessment is that the harm they may cause might not be bigger than the existing virus in our communities, we need to pay attention.”
Health officials on Tuesday recorded 4,656 infections, 373 of which were imported, and nine more deaths. The city’s overall tally stands at 1,811,344 cases and 10,237 related fatalities.
