The epidemic has slowed down, and the authorities have relaxed social distancing measures, including catching up to the fact that restaurants can have eight people per meal before Mother's Day tomorrow (8th).
However, today the Centre for Health Protection announced a case follow-up. The Yuen Long restaurant Peony Golden Court Shangpin Hotpot Shabu-shabu broke out, and four diners who did not know each other contracted the virus after visiting on May 1.
Zeng Qiyin, co-chairman of the Infectious Disease Advisory Committee of the Medical Association, said that social distancing measures are relaxed now, and there is a chance of a rebound, but there is no risk of a large outbreak. Because the community already has herd immunity, the antibody level of citizens is higher than before the fifth wave , emphasizing that the Mochizuki Tower incident will not be repeated.
Respiratory specialist Liang Zichao said that there is no need to tighten social distancing measures at present, but it is urgent to restore the case tracking system and establish a real-name "Hong Kong Health Code".
Zeng Qiyin, co-chairman of the Advisory Committee on Infectious Diseases of the Medical Association, said that social distancing measures are relaxed now, and there is a chance of a rebound, but there is no risk of a large outbreak.
(File photo/Photo by Huang Baoying)
In an interview with "Hong Kong 01", Zeng Qiyin said that even if the social distancing measures are relaxed to eight people, it will not increase the risk of infection, because the patients in the Yuen Long restaurant outbreak are not sitting on the same table.
Even if it was one for four people in the past, it would not reduce the risk.
He pointed out that "viruses don't pick people" and that four or eight people are not the dividing line.
Zeng also pointed out that although there is a chance of a rebound in relaxation, he believes that restaurants will not repeat the mistakes of Mochizukilou.
Citizens have higher antibody levels than before the fifth wave due to herd immunity in the community.
As for when will tightening measures be considered?
He said that if there is a new mutated virus or the epidemic continues to rise, he will consider tightening.
Liang Zichao said in an interview with Hong Kong 01 that there is no need to tighten social distancing measures at present, but after reopening all listed premises, the case tracking system needs to be restored and improved.
He believes that the current reverse scanning of each premises, that is, scanning the needle cards containing the personal information of citizens, has not achieved the effect of tracking the epidemic situation, "all of which are suffocating."
Even if the authorities have to "call one by one" after finding a case, there may be a lag by which time the virus has already spread.
Leung suggested that the government follow the practice of the "Hong Kong Health Code", adopt real-name registration, and upload personal information such as name, identification document number, contact phone number, residential address, and travel history.
The person-in-charge of the listed premises may also record the reverse-scanned needle card
The data is uploaded to the central server, and the central server will use artificial intelligence to find the citizens involved in the first time, so that the authorities can grasp and intervene in real time, and cut off the chain of transmission as soon as possible.
This can effectively track patients who are in the facility at the same time, and can automatically issue a warning when a group case occurs. It also emphasizes that the personal data of citizens should be encrypted and only used for case tracking.
Respiratory specialist Liang Zichao believes that even if the listed premises are reopened, there will be no major rebound of the epidemic, but there is still a risk of community transmission.
(File photo / Photo by Ojiale)
Zeng Qiyin said that other members of the community had previously proposed to the government to follow the practice of the "Hong Kong Health Code" for case tracking.
He pointed out that from the perspective of public health, this move is indeed more convenient and can speed up the tracking, but the relevant suggestions need to be reconsidered by the government.
▼5.19 Reopening of listed premises in Chapter 599F▼
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