Thread by @tripperhead

Chief Executive Carrie Lam:

• most infected cases involve Omicron. Taken over from Delta around the world

• Trying our best to break the transmission chain in Hong Kong, under "dynamic zero".

• Broke Moon Palace and Dance Clusters already

• Shows it's possible to find all cases

• The current transmissions are tough. One is Omicron in Kwai Chung Estate by a super-spreader visiting

• The other one is started by hamsters. We're very grateful to those who handed in their hamsters, albeit reluctantly.

Currently doing 130k tests per day

Racing against the spread of Omicron. The sewage surveillance system is now giving us a heads up.

100 locations throughout Hong Kong.

Kwai Chung Estate:

In the next 3 days, the three houses RTDs due to come to an end.

Yat Kwai House - will end the RTD early. Ends tomorrow.

Ying Kwai House: unless there's another outbreak, same as Yat Kwai House. Will end RTD on Sunday.

Ha Kwai House - no need to extend the 5 day RTD. Will end on Sunday.

Would like to thank the 30,000-odd people of Kwai Chung Estate. If you have any issues about the RTD, call the hotline.

Their efforts helped to contain the outbreak.

Social distancing measures:

• all measures extended until February 17th

• all large gatherings and events until Feb 17th cancelled

• all schools suspended until February 21st

Big 8 Countries Ban (Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the United States of America):

• extended another fortnight until February 18th

Starting February 5th, inbound quarantine to be reduced to 14 days hotel quarantine.

7 days monitoring after Q. No restrictions on movement in monitoring period.

Vaccine Pass:

Cap 599F to be amended to cover more places in the vaccine bubble. Indoor premises will be targeted (no details).

A vaccine pass will be required to enter. LeaveHomeSafe already updated for this.

⚠️

Any elderly person looking to apply to live in a Residential Care Home for the Elderly will need to be vaccinated.

Those unvaccinated will find it very hard to find any elderly care homes that will accept them.

We've approached local testing contractors. They said if you give us a week, we can increase our testing capacities.

Sewage testing will be increased.

Quarantine facilities will be increased.

Vaccinations available per day will be increased (40k -> 60k)

All after CNY.

Q: Sec. Food & Health Sophia Chan this morning said she thinks we have the virus under control. Is this true?

Lam: I didn't hear that comment, but it's not true. The virus is not under control at the moment.

Q: Is shortening of inbound quarantine from 21 to 14 days because of hotel-cross infections that caused the outbreak in Kwai Chung Estate?

Lam: No. It's science-based. We reduced close contact quarantine to 14 days a week ago, and inbound travellers aren't even close contacts.

Lam: If Sophia Chan said ["Well, I think we are in control of the virus"], well I think she was trying to convey confidence in the government's approach.

Q: Are you going to ask the mainland for help to fight the 5th wave?

Lam: No, because there's technical and language barriers. That said, we're working with the Guangdong government to increase testing result capacity.