Coronavirus world: Dozens of Hong Kong politicians sent to quarantine after birthday party
Dozens of senior Hong Kong officials who defied official health advice to attend a party have been forced into quarantine after a widening coronavirus cluster was linked to the event.
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Dozens of senior Hong Kong officials and politicians have been forced into quarantine after a coronavirus cluster detected at a birthday party attended by many of the city’s political elite widened.
The high-profile entries into Hong Kong’s 21-day quarantine facilities on Friday have left city authorities red-faced as they prepare to install a new “patriots only” legislature, which is scheduled to hold its first meeting next week.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has ordered a probe into 13 top officials who defied health advice and attended the party, vowing that “appropriate action” will be taken after an investigation is complete.
The 13 officials - including the city’s police, immigration and anti-corruption chiefs - were ordered not to work during quarantine, and that days spent in isolation will come out of their holiday allowances.
“Government officials must set an example and uphold discipline, maintain a high level of alertness at all times and avoid participating in high-risk activities,” Lam wrote in a late-night statement.
Those senior officials, as well as 19 legislators, were among about 170 people who attended a Monday night birthday bash for Witman Hung, a member of China’s top lawmaking body.
A single preliminary coronavirus case was detected at the party, sparking an initial run of quarantine orders on Thursday for a handful of people deemed to be close contacts.
But health inspectors widened the quarantine order on Friday to include all attendees after a second person who was at the event tested preliminary positive for the virus.
“All the people present at the party need to be quarantined,” Chuang Shuk-kwan from Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection told reporters.
CHINA’S BRUTAL LOCKDOWN SPARKS OUTRAGE
A top health official in China’s locked-down Xi’an apologised on Thursday over the miscarriage of an eight-month-pregnant woman, after footage went viral of a hospital refusing her entry without a Covid test.
The city of 13 million has been under strict home confinement for two weeks to stamp out an outbreak, in line with Beijing’s firm “zero Covid” strategy.
The distressing incident was detailed in a social media post by the woman’s niece on January 1, which included photos and video of the woman sitting on a plastic stool outside the hospital surrounded by a pool of blood.
The post was later removed but not before it got hundreds of millions of views and sparked widespread anger online about the hardships faced by Xi’an residents.
“I deeply apologise to this patient on behalf of the city’s health commission,” Xi’an health commission director Liu Shunzhi told reporters, before standing and bowing to the audience.
Liu said the hospital had been told to “compensate” the woman and apologised that “access to medical care was not smooth during the epidemic”.
The city said in an earlier statement that the incident at Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital had aroused “widespread concern and caused a bad social impact”, adding that the local health bureau was investigating.
The hospital’s general manager has been suspended over the incident, as have “responsible persons” at the outpatient department.
According to the post that went viral on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, staff refused to admit the heavily pregnant woman for two hours because she did not have a negative Covid test from within the previous 48 hours.
Her niece wrote that her negative test result had expired just a few hours earlier.
The reports follow complaints from Xi’an residents over chaotic handling of the lockdown, including poor access to food and daily essentials.
On Wednesday, officials told reporters that Xi’an was opening “green channels” to provide urgent medical services to certain groups -- such as pregnant women and patients with critical illnesses.
The pledge came as a second woman took to social media to say she had miscarried last week after being rejected by several hospitals.
The woman, who said she was in the first trimester of pregnancy, wrote that she was unable to reach anyone on the public service hotline but she thanked police for trying to help her contact hospitals.
Another Xi’an resident said her father died Monday after several hospitals declined to treat his heart ailment “due to pandemic-related rules”.
In a social media post from Thursday that has been viewed more than 500 million times, she recounted driving for over eight hours searching for a hospital while her father complained of severe chest pains.
After he was finally admitted, “the doctor said that the delay was too long”, she wrote.
It was unclear why hospitals had declined to admit the 61-year-old. Coronavirus case numbers in China remain very low by international standards. But in recent weeks, infections have reached a high not seen since March 2020.
ITALY MAKES JABS COMPULSORY FOR OVER 50S
Italy’s government said Wednesday that it would make vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory from February 15 for everyone over the age of 50, in a bid to battle surging infections.
“We want to slow down the curve of contagion and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said during a cabinet meeting at which the measure was adopted, according to a statement.
“We are working in particular on the age groups that are most at risk of being hospitalised, to reduce pressure on hospital to save lives,” he added.
The new decree obliges people over 50 who do not work to get vaccinated, and those who do work to obtain a vaccine pass -- which effectively covers all over 50s.
In another statement, the government said that “the vaccine pass will be necessary for people over 50 in the public and private sectors to access their workplace from February 15.” Out of Italy’s 59 million people, 28 million are over the age of 50, according to the Istat national statistics agency.
Late last month the government said that from 10 January a vaccination pass would be required to use public transport and access hotels, restaurant terraces and gyms.
Previously a health pass giving proof of vaccination - or a recent negative test - had been required.
As in much of Western Europe, Italy has seen its Covid cases soar in recent days, recording 189,000 on Wednesday, up from more than 170,000 on Tuesday.
It comes as the majority of passengers aboard a flight from Milan to India tested positive for Covid-19 when the plane landed Thursday — despite many getting negative results just before takeoff, according to reports.
Amritsar airport director VK Seth confirmed that 125 of 179 passengers tested positive when the plane landed about 1:30 p.m. local time, according to the Hindustan Times.
Many of the travellers wondered why they tested positive after receiving negative results in Italy.
New Delhi TV reported all the adult passengers were tested after arrival in Amritsar in Punjab because Italy is one of the high-risk countries for the Omicron variant.
PHILIPPINES TO ARREST UNVACCINATED WHO GO OUTDOORS
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday ordered the arrest of unvaccinated people who violate stay-at-home orders aimed at curbing “galloping” coronavirus infections driven by the Omicron variant.
The government tightened restrictions in Manila and several provinces and cities this week. Unvaccinated people among the capital’s 13 million people were ordered to stay home, after infection numbers tripled in the last two days.
Health officials said infections were projected to increase further in the coming days and would peak by the end of the month.
“Because it’s a national emergency, it is my position that we can restrain” people who have not got their shots, Mr Duterte said in a pre-recorded message.
“I am now giving orders to the (village chiefs) to look for those persons who are not vaccinated and just request them or order them, if you may, to stay put.” “And if he refuses and goes out of the house and goes around in the community or maybe everywhere, he can be restrained. If he refuses then the (official) is empowered to arrest the recalcitrant persons,” he added.
Coronavirus vaccinations are voluntary in the nation of more than 100 million people, and less than half the population have so far completed their jabs.
Mr Duterte said he was “appalled” at the large numbers of Filipinos yet to be vaccinated.
“If you don’t get a jab you put everybody in jeopardy,” he said, with the virus “galloping in our community, in our country and in the world”.
New infections surged to more than 17,000 on Thursday, rising more than threefold from Tuesday’s toll, according to health department data.
Under the tighter restrictions, in place until mid-January, unvaccinated residents have to stay at home unless buying essentials or exercising.
Restaurants, parks, churches and beauty salons will operate at lower capacity, while in-person classes and contact sports are suspended.
ISRAEL LIFTS TRAVEL BAN
Israel’s health ministry said on Thursday that several countries including the United States would be removed from a Covid “red list” of banned destinations despite a surge in the Omicron variant.
“The ministry of health recommends to the government to remove at this stage all countries from the red list,” it said in a statement.
The decision goes into effect Thursday, the ministry said, adding that it was “subject to the approval of the government”.
The measure was taken “in light of the share of infections of those entering Israel compared to the share of community spread”, the ministry said.
In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey will be removed from the banned destinations list.
Last month Israel barred travel to those countries among dozens of “red” destinations in an effort to slow an Omicron-fuelled surge in cases.
That ban followed a move in late November to block entry to all foreign tourists. Israel this week announced that vaccinated visitors from low-risk countries could enter the country.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the travel restrictions “delayed” the onset of Omicron.
“Five weeks ago we closed the State of Israel to entry by foreign nationals. This greatly delayed the entry of Omicron to the country,” he said.
Israeli authorities reported 16,115 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest daily load since the beginning of the pandemic.
There are 307 people hospitalised, according to the health ministry. On Monday Israel began administering fourth Covid vaccine shots for people older than 60 and health workers.
AUSTRIA MAKES MASKS MANDATORY OUTDOORS
Austria’s government on Thursday said it was making medical grade masks compulsory outside to ward off a new lockdown as Omicron variant cases of Covid-19 rise.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer revealed the decision, telling reporters the situation was “very serious” with Omicron’s degree of contagion posing “a new challenge”.
Vienna acted with new daily cases running at 10,000 on Wednesday, compared with 3,000 at the start of the month, in a country of 8.9 million.
Medical grade FFP2 face coverings had already been compulsory on Austrian public transport and in enclosed spaces since last January.
FFP2 masks offer better filtration than their surgical equivalent and cover the face more effectively.
Austria is also tightening its health pass controls but loosening restrictions including on confinement of those who test positive and those with whom they have been in contact to avoid economic paralysis.
Mr Nehammer said Vienna was not ruling out a new lockdown should hospitalisations spike.
The unvaccinated must stay at home except for reasons including work and buying food in a country where around one third of residents have not been jabbed -- one of the highest rates in Western Europe.
MACRON’S SLUR AGAINST UNVACCINATED AS FRANCE HITS RECORD
French President Emmanuel Macron has sparked an uproar after warning people unvaccinated against Covid that they would be squeezed out of key aspects of life, saying he “really wants to p**s (them) off”.
Mr Macron, who has not yet formally declared his candidacy for re-election in April, came under fire in parliament from challengers already in the race, accusing him on Wednesday of overstepping the line with his remarks.
“As for the non-vaccinated, I really want to p**s them off,” Mr Macron told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview, using the French verb “emmerder”, derived from the word “merde” - which means “s**t” - and is considered vulgar slang in France.
This would mean “limiting as much as possible their access to activities in social life,” he added.
His remarks drew swift and angry condemnation from his political opponents, who were forced to suspend a parliamentary debate about Mr Macron’s proposed new set of rules for unvaccinated people that would ban them from much of public life. It will resume later in the day.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen wrote on Twitter that “a president shouldn’t say that,” calling
Mr Macron “unworthy of his office” and claiming he wants to make unvaccinated people “second-class citizens.”
The proposed legislation would replace France’s health pass with a vaccine pass, meaning proof of vaccination is necessary for access to a range of everyday activities, from entering restaurants and bars to traveling inside the country. It would no longer accept proof of a negative test or recent recovery from Covid.
“We have to tell (the unvaccinated) … you will no longer be able to go to the restaurant. You will no longer be able to go for a coffee, you will no longer be able to go to the theatre. You will no longer be able to go to the cinema,” the president said.
“If your freedom threatens others’ freedom, you become irresponsible. And irresponsible people are no longer citizens.”
According to government figures, 91 per cent of French over-18s are fully vaccinated.
It comes as France declared a record 335,000 new daily cases, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran.
GRAMMYS CANCELLED
Covid-19 has forced the Grammys to be postponed.
In a statement on Thursday, organisers wrote: “After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual Grammy Awards Show. “The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31st simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”
US HITS ONE MILLION NEW COVID CASES IN 24 HOURS
The United States recorded more than one million Covid-19 cases on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the Omicron variant spread at a blistering pace.
There were 1,080,211 new cases in the country, a global record, with the number of cases doubling on the previous week.
It comes a day after top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said the country was experiencing “almost a vertical increase” in Covid-19 cases, adding the peak may be only weeks away.
The heavily mutated Omicron strain — the most transmissible to date — accounted for around 59 per cent of national US cases in the week ending December 25, according to government modelling.
Dr Fauci said the experience of South Africa — where the strain was first detected in late November and peaked quickly, then subsided nearly as speedily — offered some hope.
Rates of death and hospitalisation in the US have been far lower in recent weeks than during previous Covid surges.
With 9,382 deaths over the past seven days, the nation’s death toll has fallen by 10 per cent, week on week.
In the last seven days, the country has recorded 3.4 million cases at an average of 486,000 per day with a peak on January 3, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The US record during previous waves was 258,000 cases per day, for the week of January 5 to 11, 2021.
UK SETS DAILY RECORD FOR VIRUS CASES BUT PM SAYS ‘WE CAN RIDE IT OUT’
The UK has recorded 218,724 new Covid cases, the government announced on its coronavirus official dashboard on Tuesday, local time.
That is a new daily record, and more than 60,000 higher than the total number of cases recorded on Monday.
The total number of cases in Britain over the past week is up 50.9 per cent on the total for the previous week.
It is less than two weeks since the daily recorded total passed 100,000 for the first time, and 48 further deaths have been recorded.
But UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday night local time ruled out another lockdown - with no plans to shut businesses or schools amid the steep rise in cases caused by the Omicron variant.
The PM said he would recommend to Cabinet on Wednesday that the nation should retain Plan B measures of masks, working from home and Covid passes.
At Downing Street’s New Year press conference he said: “We have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our businesses once again.
“We can keep our schools and businesses open and find a way to live with this virus.
“The best way to contain this virus, help our NHS, and keep our country open, is to Get Boosted Now.”
It comes as a vaccines chief in Britain says the worst days of the Covid crisis are “absolutely behind us”.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, the chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), says society must soon reopen fully.
He also warned that a fourth jab mustn’t be offered until there’s more evidence as it’s “not sustainable” to keep on administering boosters every six months, The Sun reported.
A series of more positive studies show the Omicron variant is milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, officials have repeatedly said.
Meanwhile, hospital admissions are finally dropping in London for the first time since the mutation emerged, but frontline workers have been badly hit, with 50 per cent of all staff in some care homes and police forces forced off work.
Nevertheless, Sir Andrew Pollard told the Telegraph: “The worst is absolutely behind us. We just need to get through the winter.”
He said there should never be another lockdown, telling the publication: “At some point, society has to open up.
“When we do open, there will be a period with a bump in infections, which is why winter is probably not the best time.
“But that’s a decision for the policy makers, not the scientists.
“Our approach has to switch, to rely on the vaccines and the boosters. The greatest risk is still the unvaccinated.”
But he cautioned against endless booster rollouts.
“We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months,” he said.
“It’s not sustainable or affordable. In the future, we need to target the vulnerable.”
BEIJING SEALS OLYMPIC ‘BUBBLE’ AGAINST COVID
Beijing sealed up its Winter Olympic “bubble” on Tuesday, local time, preparing the Games venues, transport, and staff for the world’s strictest mass sporting event since the global pandemic.
China, where the virus emerged toward the end of 2019, has pursued a zero-tolerance strategy on Covid-19 and is taking the same approach to limit the pandemic’s potential impact on the February 4-20 Winter Olympics and subsequent Paralympics.
Starting Tuesday, thousands of Games-related staff, volunteers, cleaners, cooks and coach drivers will be cocooned for weeks in the so-called “closed loop” with no direct physical access to the outside world.
That contrasts with the Covid-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics, which allowed some movement in and out for volunteers and other personnel.
The global media and roughly 3,000 athletes are expected to start arriving in the Chinese capital in the weeks ahead and will remain in the bubble from the moment they land until they leave the country.
Anyone entering the bubble must be fully vaccinated or face a 21-day quarantine when they touch down, and everyone inside will be tested daily and must wear face masks at all times.
In an interview with AFP last Friday, Zhao Weidong, head of the Olympic organising committee’s media department, said Beijing was “fully prepared”.
“Hotels, transportation, accommodation, as well as our science and technology-led Winter Olympics projects are already,” Zhao said.
Beijing’s international airport activated its closed-loop system after the clock struck midnight on Tuesday, state-run CCTV news reported.
Two Japanese participants were among the first to go through the system, which was staffed by officials in full protective equipment and keeps all Games arrivals separate until they reach the Olympic village.
Passengers are subjected to temperature checks and coronavirus tests on arrival but can proceed to the village without waiting for test results.
“Suppose these people are carrying large luggage, such as bobsleighs, sleds or other sports equipment, they can hand over them to our logistics team here, who will deliver the equipment directly to venues or waxing rooms,” Wang Yanling, operation manager at Capital Airport, told CCTV.
Fans will not be part of the closed loop, and organisers will have to ensure that they do not mingle with athletes and others inside the bubble.
People who live in China must also quarantine upon leaving the bubble to return home.
The system includes dedicated transport between venues, with even closed-loop high-speed rail systems operating in parallel to those open to the public.
It is set to be operating well into late March and possibly early April. Reporters outside venues in Beijing saw workers erecting wire fences and security guards standing by in the winter chill.
Most major venues are outside of the capital.
Foreign diplomats in China have told AFP that the measures look to be so impregnable that they worry they will not be able to offer proper help to their nationals inside the bubble.
China’s “zero-Covid” strategy has been successful in keeping cases low but the system has come under pressure with a series of recent outbreaks in recent weeks.
Xi’an, a historic city of 13 million, has been under lockdown for nearly two weeks after a spate of cases was detected.
Yuzhou, a city with a population of around 1.17 million people in Henan province, also began a lockdown on Monday night after three asymptomatic cases were discovered.
INDIA IMPOSES CURFEW AS COVID CASES SURGE
India’s capital New Delhi will lock down over the weekend as authorities grapple with a fresh surge in coronavirus cases, partly fuelled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The country was battered by a devastating Covid outbreak last year that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, but daily case numbers had since then stayed reasonably low until last week.
Delhi’s new restrictions came the same day the sprawling megacity’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, announced he had been infected and was suffering “mild symptoms”.
Kejriwal said he was isolating at home and urged those in contact with him in the past few days to get tested.
The capital last week closed gyms and cinemas, as well as imposing an overnight curfew in an effort to stem the spread.
All residents besides essential workers will now be asked to stay home from Friday night to Monday morning.
“The government is fully prepared to fight any Covid situation,” the city’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said in a Tuesday address.
More than 200,000 people died across India last year after a wave of Delta variant infections that brought the healthcare system to its knees.
India’s 481,000 known Covid deaths is the world’s third-highest toll, behind the United States and Brazil.
But under-reporting is widespread and some studies have estimated its actual toll could be up to 10 times higher.
India began rolling out vaccinations for teenagers on Monday and will offer booster doses for people over 60 from next week.
KING AND QUEEN OF SWEDEN TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID
The king and queen of Sweden have both tested positive for Covid-19, the Swedish Royal Court said on Tuesday afternoon, local time.
The royal couple, King Carl XVI Gustaf, 75, and Queen Silvia, 78, tested positive on Monday evening, the court said in a statement.
Both vaccinated with three jabs, they had “mild symptoms” and were “feeling well under the circumstances”, the court said, adding that they were isolating at home.
Daily coronavirus infection rates have increased sharply in recent weeks in Sweden.
The Nordic country hit an highest of 11,507 Covid-19 cases in a day on December 30, topping the previous record of 11,376 from December 2020, figures released Tuesday by the Public Health Agency showed.
Daily case rates have since dropped slightly to hover around 10,000. Other members of Sweden’s royal family have already caught coronavirus.
In March 2021, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel tested positive, and Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia tested positive in 2020.
ISRAEL SAYS FOURTH JAB BOOSTS ANTIBODIES
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday, local time, that an Israeli study indicated fourth coronavirus vaccinations were “safe” and increased antibodies “fivefold”, as the country expands its inoculation campaign amid rising infections.
Speaking during a visit to Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv, which administered fourth vaccines to 154 of its staff a week earlier as part of a study, the Israeli premier said that the extra shot “works”.
“A week into the fourth dose, we know with a high level of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” he said alongside professor Galia Rahav, head of Sheba’s infectious disease unit and leader of the study.
“A week after the administration of the fourth dose, we see a fivefold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person,” Bennett added.
“This most likely means significant increase in the protection against infection and against severe hospitalisation and symptoms,” he said, noting the facility was due to publish its findings soon.
Sheba hospital spokesman Steve Walz said the study used Pfizer jabs, adding that a separate trial of fourth vaccine shots for 150 people using the Moderna vaccine would start this week.
Last week Israel began administering fourth jabs to people with weakened immunity. On Monday, it expanded that to health workers and people over 60, making it one of the first countries to do so.
The moves come around one year after it began a massive vaccination drive on the back of a data-sharing accord with US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
On Tuesday, the health ministry reported over 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the previous day, compared to a daily average of less than 4,000 the previous week.
More than four million people from Israel’s population of 9.4 million have received three shots of coronavirus vaccine.
The country has officially recorded over 1.4 million cases of Covid-19 infection, including 8,247 deaths.
— With AFP newswires.
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