Health experts are calling for tougher measures, with at least one pressing the government for a partial lockdown.

One expert warned that the city might have to go into a partial lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to surge for the next one to two weeks.

The current outbreak could be due to failure of the border controls, including quarantine exemptions, he said, adding that numbers rose after Father’s Day when social distancing restrictions were relaxed.

Other infectious disease experts said the onus is on people to take preventive measures to bring the situation under control.

Another said members of the public had let their guard down recently and warned that public hospitals would be under immense pressure if the daily number of new Covid-19 cases hit three digits.

Despite the precarious outlook, new cases could drop within a week if anti-epidemic measures are tightened.

The warnings from the experts who advise the government on the pandemic come after Chief Executive Carrie Lam on July 19 described the situation as “really critical”, with more than 500 infections confirmed in the past two weeks.

She announced a slew of measures, including a mandatory requirement to wear face masks when visiting indoor venues such as supermarkets and wet markets, as well as having civil servants work from home for a week.

This, after Hong Kong hit a record number of coronavirus cases in a single day at 108 on July 19, of which 83 were local transmissions. This brings the total confirmed cases to 1,885, including 12 deaths.

Last week, the government tightened measures as more clusters formed comprising eldercare centres, eateries and cab drivers.
These include shutting 12 types of venues, such as gaming centres, bars, gyms and nightclubs, for seven days. People have to wear masks on public transport or risk being fined, while restaurants can offer only takeaway services from 6pm to 5am. These measures have been extended for another week.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison further announced that Australia also offered to provide five-year visas for about 10,000 Hong Kong residents in the country. They can later apply for permanent residents as well. It is not clear how many residents will get the extensions.

Britain, too, has allowed Hong Kong residents to live and work in the UK for five years. Meanwhile, Canada has suspected its extradition agreement with Hong Kong and is looking at other options including migration.

Australia had already formally notified Hong Kong and advised the Chinese authorities of the decision.

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The ByteDance-owned Chinese app has expressed their concern and said they will exist Hong Kong in a few days owing to the fear that the new law could force them to comply with China’s harsh censorship standards. This move has been taken to possibly avoid sharing user’s data with the government.

Google, Facebook, and Twitter have already made a similar move by stop sharing user’s data with the Hong Kong government in view of rising privacy and security threats.

Meanwhile, TikTok has long been arguing that it never shares data with the Chinese government, the new Hong Kong law would have undermined the company’s case if it continued to operate in the region.

Last week, India banned TikTok alongside 59 other Chinese apps amid increasing tensions between the countries.

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The U.S. will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials who backed Hong Kong legislation. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 26 that the sanctions targeted current and former party officials who are responsible for undermining freedoms in Hong Kong. But he did not disclose the name of the Chinese officials. Pompeo noted that the latest move followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to punish Beijing over a proposed security law that could take away Hong Kong’s autonomy.

Calling the U.S. decision a “mistake”, Chinese embassy in Washington said that the move should be withdrawn immediately and US should stop interfering in China’s domestic affairs.

This comes a few days ahead of a meeting of Chinese Parliament. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will discuss the new law at its meeting, starting Sunday.

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