April 11, 2022
HONG KONG – Specific arrangements for the planned relaxation of social-distancing restrictions and the resumption of school classes will be announced next week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Sunday.
The Hong Kong government decided in mid-March that face-to-face classes would resume after the Easter holidays, and the social distancing curbs that have been in place since early January would be eased in three stages after April 21.
The Hong Kong government decided in mid-March that face-to-face classes would resume after the Easter holidays, and the social distancing curbs that have been in place since early January would be eased in three stages after April 21
Lam said that although the Omicron virus is still highly infectious, the number of new cases has dropped substantially in the past few weeks and most patients only have mild symptoms.
The government has also improved its ability to cope with the virus. Taking into account the public’s need to return to normal life and for the economy to recover, she said it’s no longer necessary to maintain strict restrictions.
When classes resume, schools will not require students to show their vaccination records before entering the campus as about 200,000 students aged 3 to 11 have yet to receive their first jab.
The city’s voluntary three-day COVID self-tests from April 8 to 10 ended on Sunday. Lam urged more residents to do the tests, saying they will help to identify more asymptomatic patients. The online reporting platform for self-tests logged about 300 new cases on April 9. Among the reported cases, the proportion of asymptomatic patients rose to 70 percent from about 30 percent previously, Lam said.
She said the overall results of the mass exercise would be known by April 12 at the latest as residents who carry out the tests on Sunday night will have to wait for 24 hours for the results.
Based on the outcome of the self-tests, the government will review the need to proceed with the planned compulsory universal tests later, Lam said.