Coronavirus: Hong Kong lawmaker tests positive 2 days after posing for photo with Xi Jinping during 25th anniversary of handover celebrations
- Steven Ho attended photo session with Chinese president on Thursday and tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday
- Ho’s infection has raised concerns over effectiveness of anti-epidemic measures adopted for anniversary
Steven Ho Chun-yin, who represents the agriculture and fisheries functional constituency, revealed on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday and was self-isolating after reporting his infection to health authorities.
“The sample on June 30 came back negative. The July 1 sample was classified as uncertain, containing a low viral load with an extremely low risk of transmission,” he said on social media. “But to protect public safety, I did not participate in the activities on July 1.”
Ho attended the photo session on June 30, the first day of Xi’s two-day visit to the city, and stood behind the president in the middle of the third row. Everyone, including Xi, appeared to be wearing a mask during the meet-and-greet session.
Nearly 3,000 guests and staff members were required to check into two five-star hotels near the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre in Wan Chai, where anniversary events were held, for mandatory quarantine to reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19 last Wednesday. Under an arrangement known as point-to-point “closed-loop” management, they had to conduct nucleic acid testing every day during their stay and travel to celebration venues via private transport.
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Ho’s infection has sparked concern over the potential health risk to Xi.
“If President Xi is infected, it will be a joke to the world because everyone got tested on a daily basis before the event,” a source close to Ho’s constituency said. “Many representatives are talking about whether there is any human factor behind the matter or something went wrong with the protocol.”
Ho’s infection came after the city’s sole deputy to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Tam Yiu-chung, tested positive for Covid-19 on June 30. Tam did not meet Xi.
The Post has contacted Ho and Tam for comment.
Hong Kong readies for Xi Jinping visit for handover anniversary celebrations
Hong Kong delegate to the National People’s Congress Ip Kwok-him said he was not worried the infections would affect Xi’s impression of Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic efforts.
“I am not worried. We were getting checked daily,” he said. “Only those activities where people take off their masks are considered high risk, but we had our masks on.”
When asked about a possible outbreak linked to the anniversary celebration, health officials on Sunday said they would not comment on individual Covid-19 cases.
“Usually, for [the] classification of close contacts during contact tracing, we will classify persons who had face-to-face, direct contact with another person without masks as close contacts, as well as their household contacts,” said Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, a principal medical and health officer at the Centre for Health Protection.
