Gov’t: Covid-19 cases up, three policy secretaries infected

The government is again calling on the public to reinforce protection measures to reduce infection risk as it is recording a rise in Covid-19 infections.

The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center has also disclosed three of the city’s policy secretaries have been infected for the first time: Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak; Secretary for Secretary for Administration and Justice Andre Cheong; and Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U.

According to a statement, two of the government members “became infected while traveling abroad on an official duty mission,” and that they “show mild symptoms and are in a stable condition, not requiring hospitalization.”

The center is calling on the public to get vaccinated and wear masks in accordance with the guidelines it has published.

Last week, the World Health Organization said Covid-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide.

The announcement, made more than three years after WHO declared the coronavirus an international crisis, offers some relief, if not an ending, to a pandemic that stirred fear and suspicion, hand-wringing and finger-pointing across the globe. Staff Reporter