(Bloomberg) — Four Hong Kong lawmakers have been quarantined for attending a large party where someone is believed to have Covid-19, as the number of officials who flaunted government guidance to attend the event during an omicron outbreak grows.
Legislative Council President Andrew Leung said at news briefing Friday that 19 members of the 90-seat Legislative Council attended the Monday birthday party for Witman Hung, head of a mainland Chinese economic agency in Hong Kong. The legislature was scheduled to hold its first meeting Wednesday.
Four of them have been sent to a government quarantine camp in Penny’s Bay, where an increasing number of travelers arriving in Hong Kong have been forced to serve the first leg of quarantines that last as long as three weeks.
More than 30 government officials attended the Jan 3. event despite Health Secretary Sophia Chan’s New Year’s Eve call for the public to avoid mass gatherings. The scandal comes as Hong Kong Chief Executive imposes strict pandemic restrictions to stop the local spread of the infectious omicron variant, as the city sticks to its Covid Zero approach of eliminating the virus from its borders.
Home Affairs Secretary Caspar Tsui is already in quarantine for attending the event with more than 100 guests, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam confirmed at a Thursday briefing. She said that another nine officials had attended the event. Allen Fung, political assistant to the development secretary, was also isolating, local media including HK01 reported Friday.
Leung said the legislature would evaluate the Covid situation before deciding whether to hold the Wednesday meeting in person. “There’s so many things we need to monitor before a final decision can be made,” he said.
Emails to the offices of quarantined lawmakers Rock Chen, Benson Luk, Wendy Hong and Duncan Chiu weren’t immediately returned.
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