Epidemic is not under control: David Hui

Government expert advisor David Hui said on Saturday that he believes the current Covid wave has already peaked, but it would be wrong to say that the epidemic is under control.

The Chinese University professor made the comment as Hong Kong’s daily tally of Covid cases fell from over 50,000 to around 30,000 in the past few days.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, Hui said infection figures are now plateauing, and more time is needed to assess the trend.

“If there are outbreaks when the trend is plateauing, the figures could rebound. In recent weeks, many citizens have used rapid tests, and many have not, or will not, report their positive test results. So the figures remain high if we take that into account,” Hui said.

“Many friends I know said they won’t report their results. Some retirees don’t have the incentive to report either because they don’t need to take sick leave. There are a lot of people in the community who lack the incentive to report their test results.”

The expert added that even though over 90 percent of the population have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccination, it would be absurd to ease social distancing measures, when infection figures remain high.

Also speaking on a radio show, another government advisor Wallace Lau echoed Hui’s views, saying there are many invisible Covid carriers in the community.

The expert urged the public to keep their guard up, noting that the medical system is still under huge pressure due to the large amount of new daily infections.