Hong Kong warns city on verge of large COVID-19 outbreak

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the city was on the verge of a large-scale outbreak of COVID-19 infections and warned this could lead to the collapse of their hospital system. 

In a statement issued on the Hong Kong government’s website on Tuesday, Lam said: “Hong Kong is facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with an upsurge in locally infected cases, many with yet unknown sources.”

She said: “We are on the verge of a large-scale community outbreak, which may lead to a collapse of our hospital system and cost lives, especially of the elderly.”

According to her, the Hong Kong government has put in place stringent measures to enforce social distancing and other regulations to help curb the spread of the virus. 

She appealed to the public and said: “What we need now is your cooperation.”

“I appeal to you to follow strictly the social distancing measures and stay at home as far as possible. If we stand united and work together, we can suppress this epidemic again,” she said. 

Hong Kong has so far recorded 2,885 cases but has seen a spike in the past week – with over 100 new cases reported daily since July 22. 

The new regulations ban gatherings of more than two people, close dining in restaurants and make the wearing of face masks mandatory in public places, including outdoors. These are the toughest measures introduced in the city since the outbreak.

The government has also tightened testing and quarantine arrangements for sea and aircrew members, effective on Wednesday.

Although numbers are still much lower than in other parts of the world, the rise in infections in Hong Kong has officials worried. 

According to Bloomberg, a large-scale outbreak could lead to a humanitarian crisis. 

“It is extremely difficult to enforce a lockdown in Hong Kong,” said Fernando Cheung, a lawmaker with a record of social advocacy. 

Cheung told Bloomberg: “There are more than 200,000 people living in subdivided units, some without private toilets and others combining their kitchens, toilets, and sleeping places all in one room. To ask people not to step out of that environment for a long period of time is inhumane and impractical.”