SSM assessing impact on city’s resumption of normalcy

The city should resume a regular Covid-19 prevention state today. When questioned yesterday as to whether the detection of a new case will affect the plan, SSM director and pulmonologist Alvis Lo said that, as of yesterday’s briefing, no information about an extended stabilization period was available.

However, he added, if any changes were deemed necessary, they would be announced in the form of press releases.

In addition, he said that the regular prevention state does not mean the end of Covid-19. “[Regular Covid-19 prevention] means that we need to stay vigilant. We will also work as planned in response to any changing situations,” the health chief remarked.

He defended reactive measures, such as key area SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests and citywide rapid antigen testing (RAT), saying that these were in place in an attempt to identify and cut off unseen chains of infections.

“For the time being, we do not have enough data that tilt against the extension of the stabilization period,” he concluded. “But if data that points in that direction is found, we will not rule out the possibility of making changes.”

When asked by the Times about the abruptness of announcements of updates to measures during the June 18 outbreak, Lo was apologetic. He explained that sometimes new data had come at late hours, and health officials deemed that the announcements could not wait.

He was also asked to foreshadow any possible measures in relation to the new case, but declined to make any disclosures. He cited possible confusion as the reason that no confirmed measures should be announced prior to being finalized.

In response to the new case, SSM announced that all residents must take a RAT both yesterday and today. Results must be uploaded to the government declaration platform.

Lo also announced that there was no connection found with Macau from the cases found recently in Doumen, Zhuhai, after viral RNA comparison. AL