(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong’s secretary for home affairs has been sent to quarantine after he and nine other government officials attended a large party after which one guest preliminarily tested positive for Covid-19.
Caspar Tsui was sent to a government quarantine center in Penny’s Bay due to his extended attendance at the gathering, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a news briefing Thursday. More than 100 people attended the party Monday.
Eight government officials left the venue before 9.30 p.m. when the suspected positive case arrived, Lam said, sparing them of the need to quarantine. The government was still investigating whether the ninth attendee, Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang, was considered a close contact. The government’s headquarters would be disinfected, she added.
“I must say I’m disappointed,” Lam said. “We have been mounting an all-out effort in fighting the epidemic. As top government officials, there is all the more reason for us to set a good example and avoid attending private gathering that may pose a major hazard.”
Tsui’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.
A birthday party was held Monday night for Witman Hung Wai-man, head of a mainland Chinese economic agency in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported earlier, citing a person it did not identify. The paper said Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam was not among the guests.
Hong Kong Is Fast Approaching Its Covid Isolation Capacity
Hong Kong is rushing to contain the highly contagious omicron variant, after reporting the first local coronavirus case officials can’t trace to its source this week. On Wednesday, officials imposed strict new virus controls, including banning dining-in after 6 p.m., and halted all flights from eight countries.
The city’s isolation facilities are nearing capacity as the city struggles to handle its growing count of Covid-19 cases. It’s currently treating more than 340 cases — the vast majority returning travelers — mainly in North Lantau Hospital near the airport, according to Tony Ko, Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority, which manages public hospitals.
Hong Kong’s vaccination rate is among the lowest for developed economies and many residents have taken a shot by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. that studies say protects less again omicron, causing anxiety over how the variant’s spread will play out.
The city has maintained some of the world’s strictest virus containment measures in an attempt to seek travel resumption with mainland China, which has zero tolerance to outbreaks. Many in the local business community have grown frustrated with the policy as major overseas cities such as London and Singapore open up.
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