Hong Kong Sees Record-High COVID-19 Cases

Hong Kong has set a new single-day record for COVID-19 cases with 108 new infections confirmed on Sunday, as reported by China Daily. 

This pushes the total to 1,885 in a city that has previously been praised for its effective management of the first and second waves of the outbreak. 

Since July 5, the city has recorded 627 new cases, and started to implement strict prevention and control measures on July 14. A civil alliance called the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link has pleaded for the government to begin mass testing with the help of the central government. 

Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Hong Kong Center of Health Protection admitted that the city was not equipped to test every resident and the source of roughly half of the new infections remains unknown. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, announced that government workers would work from home with the exception of essential and emergency workers. She also said that if residents fail to adhere to social distancing measures to flatten the curve of the current spike in cases then the government would be forced to impose harsher limitations like barring residents from leaving their homes. 

Four hundred and ninety-four of the new cases are locally transmitted, with clusters attributed to restaurants as well as hospitals, schools and elderly care facilities. 

READ MORE: HK Implements ‘Third Wave’ Prevention Measures As Cases Rise

[Cover image via MP Weekly]