(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Hong Kong has no local cases for 56 consecutive days

  China News Service, Hong Kong, August 2 (Reporter Zhang Xiaoxi) The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam said on the 2nd that Hong Kong has not recorded any local confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia for 56 consecutive days, basically reaching “zero”.

She emphasized that the SAR government will continue to wait hard, strengthen "foreign import prevention" and increase the vaccination rate as soon as possible.

  On the same day, Carrie Lam and several directors of the SAR government held a press conference at the headquarters of the Hong Kong SAR Government to introduce the latest developments in Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic work.

  Carrie Lam said that so far, the fourth wave of new crown pneumonia outbreak in Hong Kong since late November 2020 has ended, society has gradually returned to normal in an orderly manner, and the economy has begun to recover.

The vaccination rate in Hong Kong continues to increase, and about 47.9% of the eligible population has received the first dose of vaccine.

  However, she emphasized that it is still not the time to relax. As of July 31, Hong Kong has recorded 489 suspected cases involving variant strains, of which 108 cases have been confirmed as cases of variant delta strains. The vaccination rate in Hong Kong is still insufficient. To prevent the spread of imported viruses in the community, further anti-epidemic barriers must be established.

  In view of this, Carrie Lam pointed out that the SAR government will more systematically control overseas visitors to Hong Kong, dividing different regions into high, medium, and low-risk areas. All visitors to Hong Kong must present a nucleic acid test 72 hours before departure when boarding the plane. The negative result proves that high-risk areas only allow Hong Kong residents who have completed the vaccination to board the flight to Hong Kong, while medium-risk areas only allow Hong Kong residents and non-Hong Kong residents who have completed the vaccination to board the flight to Hong Kong.

All overseas visitors to Hong Kong must undergo compulsory quarantine at designated quarantine hotels, and all airport staff who have contact with arriving Hong Kong must be vaccinated and continue the flight circuit breaker mechanism.

  In addition, she said that in order to increase the vaccination rate as soon as possible, the SAR government will extend the requirement of “must be vaccinated, otherwise regular virus testing at its own expense” to all civil servants and government employees, employees of the Hospital Authority, employees of residential care homes for the elderly and the disabled, and Chinese citizens. , Small, kindergarten, and special school employees.

  The Director of the Civil Service Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government, Nie Dequan, added at the press conference that civil servants are obliged to take the initiative to vaccinate. This is a measure to protect colleagues and citizens and ensure that public services are not affected by the epidemic.

He also revealed that he is actively considering extending the operation time of the Hong Kong community vaccination center to the end of October.

  The Director of the Food and Health Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government, Chen Zhaoshi, pointed out that Hong Kong still does not have the conditions to significantly relax social distancing measures. The measures that expire on August 4 will be extended to August 18. In terms of restaurants, this month will begin to tighten the testing requirements for employees of some catering premises, and employees who have completed the vaccination will be deemed to meet the testing requirements. (Finish)