Multiple initiatives to help fight HK's worsening virus outbreak

Number of confirmed new COVID-19 cases in city tops 2,000 for first time

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is pressing ahead with multiple measures to fight the city's worst COVID-19 outbreak and aid hard-hit industries and individuals.

The city logged 2,071 new infections on Monday, the fifth daily record high in seven days and the first time new confirmed cases exceeded 2,000 in a single day.

Hong Kong also recorded more than 4,500 preliminary positive cases on Monday.

The actual figures may be even higher as over 1,000 testing samples haven't been assessed, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch, told a news briefing on Monday.

The city can handle 200,000 test samples a day, but that capacity will be gradually increased to 300,000 after Tuesday when a temporary laboratory set up by BGI Group begins to operate at Ma On Shan Sports Centre in the New Territories.

If necessary, the testing capacity of the laboratory can be increased to 300,000 a day, said Antony Wu Tingyuk, chairman of BGI's affiliate lab in Hong Kong and a former chairman of the city's Hospital Authority.

Wu said 200 technicians from neighboring Shenzhen and between 100 and 200 from Hong Kong will operate the laboratory.

He said that in the face of the raging pandemic, Hong Kong's testing capacity needs to be raised, which means that Hong Kong will have to rely on the central government to provide more manpower support to help the city battle the virus.

The central government pledged full support to the city in fighting the virus outbreak at a meeting between a Hong Kong delegation led by Chief Secretary for Administration John Lee Ka-chiu and Chinese mainland officials and medical experts in Shenzhen on Saturday.

The meeting decided that the Hong Kong government will establish five task forces on enhancing nucleic acid testing capabilities, cooperation with the mainland on setting up anti-pandemic medical facilities, and ensuring the smooth flow of medical and other supplies from the mainland.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor appointed five senior officials to head the task forces and announced the teams' roles after a high-level meeting on Sunday.

The Hong Kong government will do its best to implement and strengthen existing anti-pandemic measures, Lam said, adding she was confident the measures will help curb the pandemic with the support of the central government and Guangdong's provincial government.

The Hong Kong government announced on Sunday night that the minimum age for receiving the Sinovac vaccine will be lowered to 3 from Tuesday, in a bid to improve the city's vaccination rate.

It had previously made the Sinovac vaccine available to children as young as 5. Children at that age will be allowed to take BioNTech, the other vaccine available in the city, starting Wednesday.

The Hong Kong government submitted a HK$27 billion ($3.46 billion) Anti-Epidemic Fund proposal, expected to benefit 750,000 residents and 67,000 businesses, to the city's legislature on Monday. The Legislative Council's Finance Committee will deliberate on the funding application on Tuesday.

Under the city's sixth pandemic relief package, residents who previously earned less than HK$30,000 a month and who have been unemployed for more than a month will be eligible for one-off subsidies of HK$10,000.

In addition, front-line workers, including cleaning workers, security workers and those working at care homes for the elderly and disabled will be able to receive a monthly allowance of HK$2,000 for five months.