🌊 Daily COVID cases breaks record
Mini Leader of the Week: literally Dr Chuang's facebook fanpage
Good morning.
Did you know that the Head of the Communicable Disease Branch (CDB) has her own fan page??
Well now you do (more in today’s Tide on that).
On Today’s Tide
Mini Leader of the Week | Dr Chuang Shuk Kwan fan page (a friendly and organised place for COVID-19 updates).
COVID-19 | Hong Kong hits record number of single-day cases.
Events | Give to runners in Terry Fox Run 2022.
Behind the paywall
Business | Foodpanda and Deliveroo under investigation for leveraging power for exclusive deals.
Government | Nomination period for CE election announced.
Crime | Over 100 people have been arrested for violating the national security law since its enactment.
COVID-19 volunteer updates page gives health officials run for their money
Mini LoTW
We include COVID news on High Tide every day, and I’d consider us detailed, concise and up to date but there’s one place even quicker, even more detailed, even more concise - this week’s Mini LoTW: Dr Chuang Shuk Kwan’s 張竹君 Facebook Fanpage.
Starting in 2020 when the pandemic first hit HK, the group is run by two super friendly volunteers Francis and Terrence. Every day without fail, Francis live blogs the 4:30 COVID update press conference. This one group gets COVID news out faster than the news does – and we are the doing the news people.
But wait there’s more: Compulsory testing notices, lockdown maps, press releases, flight bans, quarantine hotel lists are all compiled and uploaded to the Facebook page so you never need to dig them out yourself. It’s organised better than the government’s COVID site.
I’m sure some of our readers are already on the group (they do have over 17k members after all….) but if you’re not, join for the best-organised COVID updates in HK, stay for the lovely community.
HK hits record high number of cases in single day
COVID-19
The city recorded 164 new cases on Thursday, the highest number of cases counted in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.


New cases: 164
Of the new cases, 116 are local infections and 48 are imported. 12 cases come from unknown sources.
Residents from two blocks of Kwai Chung Estate have been sent to quarantine. Earlier yesterday night, four residential blocks in Kwai Fong and Kwun Tong were put under lockdown for mandatory testing after one preliminary positive case was found in each building. A group of residents in a Wong Tai Sin public housing block was evacuated yesterday afternoon after over 20 cases were found in the building. The rest of the residents will undergo lockdown.
Speaking of lockdowns, the five-day lockdown ordered for Ying Kwai House in Kwai Chung has been extended for another two days after the government decided it was at “significant risk of infection”. Residents will undergo daily testing until Saturday.
Hong Kong is shortening its 21-day quarantine to 14 for arriving travellers. This decision, effective from 5 February, was made due to Omicron’s shorter incubation period, according to the Chief Executive. The 14-day hotel quarantine must be followed by seven days of home quarantine.
The government gazetted compulsory testing notices for 26 specified premises (refer to the Annex provided for locations and testing details).
People who are medically exempt from the “vaccine pass” can get a COVID-19 Vaccination Medical Exemption Certificate under the latest government arrangement.
Events
If you attend one of the events we share, let us know by tagging us on Instagram and Twitter @harbourtimes. We’re also on Facebook @HarbourTimesHK. We’ll give you a month of our paid subscription benefits for free!


The virtual Terry Fox run is a great way to honour Terry Fox while giving support to the fantastic initiative to support cancer research. All the net proceeds raised in the 9th annual run in Hong Kong “go to support cure-oriented, biomedical cancer research projects locally”.
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