Customs clearance｜Hong Kong University experts say that only screening passengers from a single country is ineffective and importing hamsters must be tested first

China and Hong Kong are expected to clear the customs in the first stage next Sunday (8th) at the earliest. Leon Poon, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, estimates this morning (3rd) that citizens will return to their hometowns after customs clearance. Due to the flow and gathering of people, there may be more However, he pointed out that if the virus strain in the mainland is similar to that in Hong Kong or other places, the risk of customs clearance will not be too great, so there is no need to worry too much.

At the beginning of the fifth wave in Hong Kong last year, the government issued a "rat killing order" in response to a hamster being found to be infected with the virus, and the import of hamsters is still prohibited.

Pan Liewen described that the transmission of the virus after the animal is still unknown, so if the hamsters are to be imported again, testing or screening must be added to improve the safety factor.

▼January 2 High Speed ​​Rail West Kowloon Station is ready to reopen▼

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During the Lunar New Year, many people return to their hometowns and the gathering of people is likely to increase the chance of infection

Poon estimated on a radio program this morning that citizens will return to their hometowns during the Lunar New Year. Due to the movement and gathering of people, there may be more opportunities for contact, bringing the virus to other places or spreading it among family members. wait and see.

He continued that currently about 20,000 people are infected every day in Hong Kong, and he believes that if the virus strain in the Mainland is similar to that in the local or other places, the risk will not be too great, and the public need not worry too much.

However, he emphasized that there will be different strains of the virus in different places, and the epidemic situation is different: "On the contrary, I am worried that there will be new (mutated virus strains) that we don't know. This is the focus of attention." But the current open data in the Mainland, No anomalies have been observed so far.

Pan Liewen: Unless every passenger is screened, it will not be effective

Pan Liewen also mentioned that the Omicron mutant strain is highly contagious, and the chance of the Delta mutant strain replacing the Omicron mutant strain is not great.

As for passenger testing, he said that the first case of the Omicron variant came from a South African passenger, but then other cases came from other countries, indicating that unless every passenger is screened, it is not effective to only target a certain country.

Leon Poon, Professor of the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, HKU.

(File photo/Photo by Ou Jiale)

In the past when the Delta mutant strain was popular, there was a case of hamsters being infected and re-infected. Hong Kong still prohibits the import of small mammals. Poon pointed out that there is currently no complete data on animal-to-human transmission in Hong Kong: "The transmission of animal-borne viruses has become a point. It is an unknown number." It is believed that if re-importation is required, such as adding testing or screening to ensure that the imported small mammals do not carry viruses, the safety factor will be higher.

▼On January 19, 2022, under the "Rat Killing Order", citizens handed over hamsters to New Territories South Animal Management Center▼

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epidemic.

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