While the pandemic continues to show signs of easing in Hawaiʻi and across much of this country, it’s a different story in parts of the Asia Pacific. And that includes Hong Kong, which also faces another set of challenges.
New cases of COVID-19 are climbing in Hong Kong. That’s sparking criticism from Beijing.
China’s central government has long held to a “zero COVID” policy, locking down large cities after small outbreaks of community spread.
Hong Kong’s government has not gone that far, but it has taken tougher measures than any other city in the Asia Pacific outside mainland China.
Last week, Hong Kong shattered records with more than 600 new cases a day on Monday and Tuesday.
By Friday, those numbers had more than doubled to a new record of more than 1,300.
Reuters reports a group of specialists from Hong Kong University warn that new cases could rise to nearly 30,000 a day by the end of March — with a daily death toll of 1,000 by June.
Hong Kong’s government has further tightened restrictions: public gatherings are now limited to two people.
Schools, bars, and gyms were already closed, and now churches, temples and other places of worship are closed until late next week.
So are hair salons.
The fines for violating testing rules have been doubled to the equivalent of about US$1,300.
The rules haven’t been this strict since July of 2020, but Chinese state media and several Chinese government officials say they still don’t go far enough.
