[Global Times special correspondent in Hong Kong, Ye Lan, Global Times reporter Chen Qingqing] Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced earlier that the "Fire Eye Laboratory" will be reopened.
Following the record 614 confirmed cases on the 7th, Hong Kong added 625 confirmed cases on the 8th, a new single-day high, and about 400 initial confirmed cases.
According to Hong Kong's "Sing Tao Daily" report on the 8th, the staff of the "Fire Eye Laboratory" set up at the Ma'anshan Stadium in Hong Kong began to build on the 7th.
The laboratory is once again undertaken by Huasheng Diagnostic Center, a subsidiary of BGI. Hu Dingxu, chairman of Huasheng Diagnostic Center, said that the "Huoyan Laboratory" is similar to the previous mode of operation. About 200 mainland personnel are going or have arrived in Hong Kong. There is no problem in doing 100,000 single-tube tests every day.
If the epidemic still needs it, the "Fire Eye Laboratory" will not be disassembled.
According to the report, "Huoyan Lab" is a brand of BGI and can operate 24 hours a day.
In August 2020, Hong Kong set up the "Fire Eye Laboratory" at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Park Gymnasium. At that time, there were 16 air film laboratories, and about 200 "national team" testing personnel arrived in Hong Kong to participate in the testing, and Huasheng sent an additional 200. Mainland employees.
Before attending the executive meeting on the 8th, Carrie Lam said that on the 7th, the first day of the Spring Festival holiday, she received the concern and greetings from the Central Government on the epidemic in Hong Kong from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council.
She revealed that Hong Kong now has a "straight line" channel to ask Guangdong Province for help, and several batches of laboratory personnel have come to Hong Kong from the mainland to assist in testing.
She also said that since the number of voters in the chief executive election is not as large as that of the Legislative Council, the prevention and control work during the election is easier to carry out, and the election will not be postponed for the time being.
In the face of the continuing severe epidemic, the SAR government announced the latest epidemic prevention measures on the 8th, including tightening the maximum number of people in group gatherings in public places to 2 people, introducing for the first time a "gathering restriction order" applicable to private premises, and prohibiting more than two families from being in private places. Conduct cross-family gatherings, etc.
If the public does not comply with the mandatory order, the fixed penalty will be raised from HK$5,000 to HK$10,000.
As for the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, Carrie Lam revealed that the plan has been largely completed and will require an injection of HK$26 billion, covering more than 40 measures.
Lin Zhengyue said that the number of confirmed cases of more than 600 is shocking, but in the past two years of anti-epidemic experience, the government cannot change the order overnight, and will continue to adhere to the concept of dynamic clearing.
Tan Yaozong, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Hong Kong, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 8th that Lin Zhexuan, a member of the medical and health sector of the Legislative Council, once said that Omicron has a strong transmission rate and a mortality rate of about 0.3%, which is 6 to 7 times higher than that of influenza. Delta has higher severity and mortality, with a mortality rate approaching 2%.
Studies in different places have found that patients who have recovered from the new crown face a variety of sequelae. Among them, the School of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong recently released a study that found that many recovered patients suffered from poor memory and anxiety within 6 months.
Tan Yaozong worries that if "coexist with the virus", the pressure on public hospitals will be on the verge of collapse at any time.
He said that while economies around the world have been hit by the epidemic, while the mainland's economic development has maintained a net growth, one of the reasons is the successful anti-epidemic policy.
"Hong Kong's anti-epidemic goals should be in line with the mainland, so that the economy can recover, and the customs clearance demands of the business community and society will be realized as soon as possible."