Hong Kong enters fourth wave of COVID-19; schools shut
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The decision was taken after the city reported 26 cases on Friday, of which 21 were local cases
As the coronavirus cases rose once again in Hong Kong, the local government decided to suspend all in-person classes for the lower primary school students.
The decision was taken to protect the children from contracting the novel coronavirus after city’s top health official said the situation in the city was 'sever'.
Students from classes I to III will shift to online classes from Monday, on an urgent basis. The announcement came almost a week after city's kindergartens were also ordered to shut down immediately as the cases surged.
The decision was taken after the city reported 26 cases on Friday, of which 21 were local cases. This surge has might be the fourth wave for the city, says Health Secretary Sophia Chan.
She has also urged people to cancel all gatherings and stay home as much as possible. "I would appeal to people to stop all unnecessary gathering activities because the situation is severe now in Hong Kong," Chan said. “In the past week, we have already tightened many of our measures, including border control measures, quarantine measures, hotel regulation measures and also some of the social distancing measures."
The surge came a few days before an air bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore was about to begin, according to which the passengers were required to go through a COVID-19 test, but did not have to quarantine themselves upon arrival in either of the countries. However, only Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines were allowed to carry out operations in this bubble.
Hong Kong has recorded nearly 5,500 coronavirus cases and 108 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019.