A man rests after exercising next to the Shing Mun River in Hong Kong on April 8, 2021.
(ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
HONG KONG – Hong Kong reported only one new COVID-19 case on Wednesday, the fewest since March 28, as the city raced to prevent local transmissions for its plan to further ease social distancing rules and open up cross-border travel.
This is also the first time since April 4 that the city did not have any local infections.
The sole patient on Wednesday was a 31-year-old asymptomatic woman from the Philippines who was staying at Silka Seaview Hotel Hong Kong in Yau Ma Tei for mandatory quarantine
The sole patient on Wednesday was a 31-year-old asymptomatic woman from the Philippines who was staying at Silka Seaview Hotel Hong Kong in Yau Ma Tei for mandatory quarantine.
For two weeks starting Tuesday, passenger flights from the Philippines, India, and Pakistan are not allowed to fly to the city, according to the Hong Kong government’s latest rule that aims to fend off imported cases. The city’s tally of confirmed cases stood at 11,704, with 209 related deaths.
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On Tuesday, the city recorded four untraceable local cases, which led to several places across the city being put under mandatory testing orders. No confirmed patients were identified so far.
Contact tracing and targeted testing in places visited by two patients with coronavirus variants also did not yield any positive cases.
If the local virus situation remains under control, the city’s social distancing measures would be eased gradually from the end of April, with fully vaccinated residents given privileges in social activities.
The government also plans to exempt a limited number of travelers from the Chinese mainland from mandatory quarantine by mid-May.
READ MORE: HK sees 17 new COVID-19 cases, most since April 2
Two patients, whose infections were confirmed on Tuesday, returned from the mainland on April 6. The one who returned under the quarantine-exemption arrangement was believed to have contracted the virus in Hong Kong; the other case has not been classified.