It has been nearly three years since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia in Hong Kong, and there have been calls from all walks of life in recent days to “return to normal”. Government expert adviser Yuan Guoyong, together with three experts from the University of Hong Kong, wrote an article describing that the new crown virus has turned into a milder endemic disease. It is recommended that citizens who have received three doses of the new crown vaccine should be allowed to “return to normal” life under the premise of wearing masks, including withdrawing Restrictions on business operations of restaurants, and reverse isolation of those without injections when medical institutions admit and treat confirmed patients. The CHP said the government’s inter-departmental team will monitor the development of the epidemic and decide whether to relax the measures.
The article was jointly published by Chair Professor Yuan Guoyong, Honorary Assistant Professor Long Zhenbang, Clinical Associate Professor Chen Fuhe, and Professor Jin Dongyan of the Department of Biochemistry, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, HKU. They believe that the new round of outbreaks since June this year can be called the “sixth wave of the epidemic”, which means that the crude case fatality rate of the sixth wave has dropped to 0.097%, which is significantly different from the 0.59% case fatality rate calculated by the government from the beginning of the year. The team is expected to be related to the high vaccination rate and the large number of citizens infected in the fifth wave.
Urge to respect citizens who have not yet received the new crown vaccine
The team pointed out that a total of 91.5% of the population in Hong Kong have received two injections. Together with the sixth wave of natural infections, it is estimated that more than 95% of the population currently has an immune barrier once morest severe illness. They described that the public should begin to understand that the new crown pneumonia has taken root in Hong Kong and become an endemic disease, and society should gradually begin to relax and return to normal. They said that citizens who are still hesitant regarding vaccines should be respected. After the launch of the return to normal plan, they and their family members can be required to take regular rapid tests, and if they are infected, they can seek medical treatment and take oral new crown medicines as soon as possible.
Scholars also believe that people who have received all injections should be allowed to gradually return to normal life, including the implementation of the fourth phase of the “vaccine passport” as soon as possible, further abolishing restrictions on business hours of catering establishments and the number of people per table, and allowing those who have received all three injections to continue. Return to normal life while wearing a mask. They also feel that Hong Kong is absolutely qualified to implement the “0+7” entry measures, and even use more aggressive plans to accelerate the return to normal.
In terms of testing, they said that routine testing should focus on those with symptoms and high-risk groups, and that nucleic acid testing can be replaced by rapid testing for several consecutive days. The team also urges the government to stop routine sewage inspections and forced enclosure inspections that have no practical significance. Under the epidemic, public hospitals are on the verge of “exploding”. The team recommends using infection control measures for general respiratory viruses to admit and treat confirmed patients, but patients who have not received injections need to be treated separately. They hope to use this to ease the tension in public hospitals and minimize the impact on non-COVID-19 medical services.
Ho Pak Leung also advocates lifting restrictions on restaurants
Ho Pak-leung, director of the Center for Infection and Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, also urged the Hong Kong government yesterday to cancel the less effective anti-epidemic measures, such as the number of people per restaurant and business hours restrictions, and believes that Hong Kong has a certain foundation for vaccination. Au Jiarong, chief doctor of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Center for Health Protection, responded that whether to relax the measures should be reviewed by the government inter-departmental team to review the trend of the epidemic.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/local/Yuan Guoyong and other 4 experts advocate life returning to normal – 3 injections can be relaxed but masks are still required/339121?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral
