New COVID-19 clusters in Hong Kong as East Rail Line opens

189
3
New COVID-19 clusters in Hong Kong as East Rail Line opens

The opening of the East Rail line cross-harbor extension brought some excitement to the city s commuters with a growing hope for the return of normalcy in Hong Kong.

The extension was opened on Sunday, allowing commuters from the northeast New Territories to reach the financial districts in Central and Admiralty in a single ride. It connects Hung Hom station in Kowloon to Admiralty station on the Hong Kong Island via the new Exhibition Centre station, reducing the rail journey between the two stations from 19 minutes to just seven minutes. The East Rail Line is Hong Kong's fourth cross-harbor railway line, with a total length of around 46 km.

Hundreds of railway buffs had lined up overnight outside the station braving light rain in a race hours before the extension was scheduled to open, to be among the first to board the first train.

While the city's health authorities were busy tracing people linked to three new COVID- 19 clusters in Kennedy Town, Sheung Wan and Hung Hom, a new outbreak emerged in an industrial building in Kwun Tong. Nine of the 259 new cases registered on Sunday 33 of which were imported were tied to the new cluster at an eatery on the first floor of the Shing Yip Industrial Building.

The head of the Department of Health's communicable disease branch said that if some people were highly infectious, they would spread the coronaviruses even when they wore a mask. She said that the calculation was only a mathematical model and was asked by Professor Gabriel Leung, medical professor at the University of Hong Kong, that the next wave of infections could hit the city in two weeks. She pointed out that it is difficult for the authorities to track hundreds of invisible transmission chains as most of the cases did not exhibit symptoms, because of the general outbreak situation that has to be taken into account, not just the number of cases.

The outbreak cluster at Sky Cuisine restaurant in Sheung Wan grew to 52 cases, which included 20 families, while the one at the Sai Wan Estate in Kennedy Town grew to 24. The total number of cases at the other cluster at a snooker hall in Hung Hom reached 13.

The necessity and urgency of enhancing capacity building for the ranks of patriots who love the country, Hong Kong and Macao, was underscored by Wang Yang, chairman of China's top political advisory body, as well as the basic principles of the patriots administering Hong Kong and Macao SARs.

In a biweekly consultation session on Friday, Wang urged to unite the patriots, improve political consciousness, forge close ties with the people and ensure the steady practice of one country, two systems. Shamim Ashraf joined China Daily Hong Kong in 2016 and is currently serving as Editor, GBA Pulse.