People with certain Omicron COVID-19 subvariants to be quarantined in designated facilities

HONG KONG: Those who test positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong will be quarantined in a centralised facility if they are infected with certain subvariants of the Omicron strain of the virus, the government said on Wednesday (Jun 1).

At a daily press briefing on COVID-19, Controller of the Centre of Health Protection (CHP) Edwin Tsui said those found to carry the subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4 or BA.5 will be sent to a hospital or quarantine centre, along with their close contacts. 

"The CHP ... has been adopting a stringent and consistent approach in handling the isolation of cases based on risk assessment of individual cases," said the Hong Kong government in a statement late Wednesday night.

The "overseas evidence has so far indicated" those Omicron subvariants have higher transmissibility and immunity escape, the statement added.

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Thirty-four people have so far tested positive for those subvariants, including at least two families linked to a cluster at a Canadian international school, reported Bloomberg. Authorities rejected the families' requests to quarantine at home. 

"Based on risk assessment, specifically the potential impact of further spread of such variants in the community, the CHP has decided to put these new sub-lineage cases, including recent local transmission of BA.2.12.1 cases and their close contacts, under controlled environment for isolation for better monitoring and observation of their situation as a precautionary measure," the government said. 

"This is a specific measure taken in respect of those cases in questions based on risk assessment and does not signify a change in the overall quarantine and isolation policy aforementioned."

A government spokesperson said the city has "all along" been implementing a "five-tier arrangement" for isolation of local COVID-19 cases. This includes quarantine at home or designated facilities where appropriate, the spokesperson added.

People coming from overseas and imported cases are also isolated at designated hotels and facilities.

A wave of the highly transmissible Omicron variant hit Hong Kong in January, overwhelming its isolation facilities. 

It has killed more than 9,000 people, mostly unvaccinated elderly people, and forced the reimposition of stringent social distancing curbs.

Some restrictions have eased in recent weeks, including a ban on evening dining inside restaurants and the reopening of businesses like gyms and cinemas.

Beaches were reopened last month and people allowed to exercise outdoors without masks for the first time in months.

Hong Kong reported 505 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and one death. The city has recorded a total of 1,212,699 cases and 9,378 deaths since the start of the pandemic.