Hong Kong Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Saturday also warned that the flu season, which began this month, had not peaked yet and it typically took 12 to 16 weeks for it to subside. During a television interview, Lo also said Covid-19 cases were increasing.
“All of the [Covid-19] figures have increased by about 30 to 50 per cent,” he said, adding the number of daily confirmed cases might have already reached 10,000, outnumbering a small peak in infections recorded last August. Lo also said reintroducing the mask mandate would result in social and economic costs.
“The mask mandate, a legislative means, would create an adverse impact on social and economic activities. If we can use other methods to deal with [the rise in cases], we will not consider this method for the time being,” he said.
Immunity against Covid-19 in the city was stronger than before, Lo added, saying more than 95 per cent of residents had been infected and vaccinated and the community and hospitals had developed a stronger ability to cope with the pandemic.
According to the WHO, there has been an upwards global trend in Arcturus cases, but there are currently no reports suggesting increased infection severity.
Lo said city residents had weaker immunity against the flu after wearing masks for three years. He pointed out the number of hospitalised cases and deaths had increased, but they were not as high as those recorded in previous years during the flu season.
According to our experience, the flu season takes 12 to 16 weeks to subside,” he said, adding the city was in its third week and the medical system was able to cope with it. Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, a top infectious disease expert at the University of Hong Kong, said during another radio programme that the flu season would peak in one to two weeks, while it might take eight weeks for Covid-19 cases to reach the highest point.
儘管 Covid 案件不斷增加，但香港仍無視戴口罩的規定和保持社交距離的限制
香港衛生局局長羅仲茂週六也警告說，本月開始的流感季節尚未達到高峰，通常需要 12 至 16 週才能消退。 在接受電視採訪時，Lo 還表示，Covid-19 病例正在增加。
他說：“所有 [Covid-19] 數字都增加了約 30% 至 50%”，並補充說每日確診病例數可能已經達到 10,000 例，超過了去年 8 月記錄的感染小高峰。 羅還表示，重新引入口罩強制令將導致社會和經濟成本。
“強制戴口罩是一種立法手段，會對社會和經濟活動產生不利影響。 如果我們可以用其他方法來應對[病例上升]，我們暫時不會考慮這種方法，”他說。
Lo補充說，該市對Covid-19的免疫力比以前更強，他說超過95%的居民已經被感染並接種了疫苗，社區和醫院已經形成了更強的應對這一流行病的能力。
據世界衛生組織稱，大角星病例在全球呈上升趨勢，但目前沒有報告表明感染嚴重程度增加。
羅說，戴口罩三年後，城市居民對流感的免疫力較弱。 他指出，住院個案及死亡個案有所增加，但沒有往年流感季節錄得的高。
根據我們的經驗，流感季節需要 12 到 16 週才能消退，”他說，並補充說該市已進入第三週，醫療系統能夠應對。 香港大學頂級傳染病專家 Ivan Hung Fan-ngai 教授在另一個電台節目中表示，流感季節將在一到兩週內達到高峰，而 Covid-19 病例可能需要八週時間才能達到 最高點。
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