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Written by: Review Editor Room
2020-07-07 08:00
Last update date: 2020-07-07 08:00On Sunday and Monday (July 5th and 6th), there are two consecutive days of new local diagnosis. Although it is not a community outbreak, it also reminds the community and the government to still be cautious and review whether the current measures have room for improvement.
Among the anti-epidemic measures in Hong Kong, the quarantine exemption and the arrangement of quarantine sites are more controversial. On Saturday (July 4th), a pilot who returned to Hong Kong from Kazakhstan developed symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. He sought medical treatment and was tested at a private clinic. The result was positive. Prior to this, there were cases in which cargo crews staying in Hong Kong were tested positive for viruses after arriving in the Mainland. According to current mandatory quarantine measures, crew members, passenger and cargo ship crews who must travel between Hong Kong and foreign regions to perform their duties, and government personnel who must perform government-related operations, are exempt from compulsory quarantine. This was originally intended to facilitate work exchanges, and at the same time, it also considered that some relevant staff members stayed in Hong Kong for too short a time to complete the test. However, this time recruiting teachers, it is questionable whether the practice can be improved.
Xu Shuchang, a government expert consultant, a lecturer professor in the Department of Respiratory System, School of Medicine, Chinese University of Medicine, and Liang Zichao, chairman of the Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee of the Medical Association, believe that a complete exemption may cause a loophole in epidemic prevention. In order to balance efficiency resources and epidemic prevention, Liang Zichao proposed that crew members who have stayed in Hong Kong for more than three days or more and have sufficient time to complete the inspection should be subject to quarantine. For the relevant staff who stayed for less than three days, or only stayed for a few hours, Liang Zichao thought that medical tests could be arranged and tried to arrange them to avoid contact with other citizens. At present, there are also proposals to point out that different measures can be taken for incoming crew members based on the risk factor of the route. In any case, in the face of public concerns, the authorities need to consider how to improve quarantine measures and fully explain them.
Should the Hong Kong government expedite the study, stating that foreign domestic helpers are not suitable for home quarantine? (Profile picture)
Spreading risk of household quarantine
On the other hand, the arrangement of entry and quarantine locations is also controversial. Recently, the capacity of the Regal Hotel Quarantine Center and Yabo has been full. In some "low-risk areas" such as Shanghai and Taiwan, returnees do not need to wait for the test results and can go home for quarantine. In fact, a 36-year-old Filipino domestic helper who received home quarantine on Saturday found that the test result was positive after being allowed to return to his residence to wait for the result.
Although there are not many cases of infecting others due to home isolation, and the government understands that the current Hong Kong epidemic is relatively gradual and allows for a more relaxed home isolation policy, the society is concerned about the risk of foreign domestic workers entering Hong Kong and the spread of imported cases. face. For example, whether home segregation is suitable for people who declare their address as a house or in a crowded area. If there are home segregators in their homes, will the movement of their family members be restricted? For scattered passengers and foreign domestic helpers introduced by intermediary companies that can be better managed centrally, is household isolation also applicable? Or will people from high-risk areas be more suitable for centralized isolation?
It has been more than half a year since the outbreak, and the cumulative number of infected people in the world has exceeded 10 million, and it is not yet possible to predict when the vaccine will be available. Therefore, for the time being, the Hong Kong government, which is "a corner of peace", must not relax. It must review and adjust its strategies and measures in a timely manner, and communicate well with the public to better fight against the epidemic.
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