【無了期唔知幾時完嘅武漢肺炎】國際疫情討論區09

政府把41個指明地方納入強檢公告

政府發出最新強制檢測公告，因應5宗可能與輸入個案有流行病學關連的個案，要求在指定期間曾身處41個指明地方的人士，接受新冠病毒病檢測。

強檢地點包括榮源茶行、北角國都廣場8樓中信証券、聖公會聖約翰座堂、香港公園體育館、禮頓山社區會堂、工展會、香港殯儀館、瑞安中心2樓港島智能身份證換領中心、南華體育會體育中心底層游泳池、崇光百貨7樓及9樓、深水埗聖方濟各堂、高山劇場及新翼、大坑東社區中心、福建中學校友會、以及10條巴士和專線小巴路線等。

點解永遠無美國新聞

多謝國泰

Because the data of USA is not reliable due to a lot of at-home rapid test. Actually,I know the situation in USA more than in any country.

In short, New York refuses to close the schools even though the new cases is higher than ever. Schools in some states have been closed.
So many staffs are sick that several lines of the subway in New York City has been stopped, and many flights across USA have been cancelled.

Too many health care staffs are infected that they have been allowed to work if they show no symptoms so that the services provided by the hospitals will be maintained.

I can provide a lot of information about USA if you want.

以色列及瑞典新冠確診病例均創單日新高

以色列單日確診新型肺炎的患者數目創新高，新增1萬1千9百多人確診，總理貝內特警告，變種病毒Omicron正在以色列快速蔓延，單日確診病例可能增至5萬宗。不過，疫苗正發揮作用，所以接種疫苗和正確戴口罩的人士，可能不會得重症。

外電報道，以色列940萬人口中，近430萬人已接種第三針。當局日前開始，為60歲以上人士及醫護人員接種第四針。

另外，瑞典新增1萬7千多宗確診個案，亦創單日新高。數據顯示，瑞典各地的新冠病毒檢測陽性率平均為兩成，首都斯德哥爾摩地區的陽性率最高，達到兩成六。當局表示，Omicron已成為瑞典流行的主要病毒株，隨著病例快速增加，重症人數亦上升，並對醫療資源造成壓力，呼籲民眾盡可能接種疫苗並保持社交距離。

西方社會都迫針啦
唔迫點共存啊

USA 1

Chicago school leaders canceled Thursday's classes, the second consecutive day instruction was called off amid failed efforts to reach agreement with the teachers union over COVID-19 safety protocols in the nation’s third-largest school district.

USA 2

The Grammy Awards, initially scheduled for Jan. 31, have been postponed for the second year in a row because of the pandemic. A new date has not been announced.

USA 3

The U.S. averaged 491,000 new infections daily over the last seven-day period, almost double the previous seven days, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Wednesday. Hospitalizations were up 63%, she said.

USA 4

CDC isolation guidelines are confusing, counterproductive, AMA says
The CDC's new quarantine and isolation guidelines are not only confusing, they're putting people at risk. That's the contention of an organization that typically sides with the nation's health protection agency -- the American Medical Association.

The guidelines, issued Dec. 27, shortened the amount of time those infected with the virus or exposed to it are required to stay away from others to five days. After that, provided the person in question has no symptoms or those are resolving, the CDC recommends wearing a mask around others for five days.

That's not enough, says the AMA, which contends that based on the CDC's own information, about 31% of those who test positive for the virus could remain infectious five days later.

"Physicians are concerned that these recommendations put our patients at risk and could further overwhelm our health care system,'' the AMA's president, Dr. Gerald E. Harmon, said in a statement. “A negative test should be required for ending isolation after one tests positive for COVID-19. Reemerging without knowing one’s status unnecessarily risks further transmission of the virus.''

USA 5

Supreme Court hears challenge to federal mandates amid historic surge
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in challenges to two federal vaccine requirements Friday at a time when the omicron variant is causing infections to soar. While the justices have repeatedly turned away challenges to state and local COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the Biden administration is all but guaranteed to face a tougher reception. Federal courts have long recognized the power state and local governments have to regulate public health. But the federal government is a different story.

Brandon Trosclair, a second-generation grocer and former Republican candidate for legislative office in Louisiana, filed suit challenging the federal requirement that his workers get vaccinated.

" I just thought it was incredibly wrong to put that burden on the employer as well as ... on the employee."

USA 6

Spring semester revving up online at many schools

A new year and the new strain of the coronavirus are resurrecting familiar problems for the nation’s millions of college students. Some universities have already decided to offer the first weeks of the spring semester virtually. And those offering an in-person start say digital instruction is still a possibility. What’s more, some that had rolled back COVID-19 precautions have reinstated those measures, such as the University of Alabama, which reintroduced its masking requirements.

Davidson College professor Chris Marsicano, who leads the College Crisis Initiative to study how colleges respond to the pandemic, says about 10% of the 400 major universities the group has reviewed so far plan to start online for the spring semester.

"This is not like last fall, where going online for a little bit could mean going online forever," he said. "All indications are that any delay or remote start will be followed up shortly thereafter by a return to normal operations."

do u mean home text doesn’t reliable? so it should be more or less case compare with the report announced by the US government ?

USA 7

Entertainment industry struggles amid latest surge

As COVID-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant continue to surge, entertainment specials and events are once again getting canceled or postponed. The Critics Choice Awards show set for Sunday was postponed. So was the New York Film Critics Circle awards ceremony, originally scheduled for next Monday. "Late Night with Seth Meyers" was canceled all week after the star tested positive. Broadway is also struggling. "Mrs. Doubtfire" producer Kevin McCollum announced the musical would take a hiatus from Jan. 10 to March 14.

“Mrs. Doubtfire has been in development for six years. We are doing everything in our power to keep the virus from prematurely ending our run on Broadway," McCollum said. "By taking this break we can afford to launch an extended run starting in March."

I mean that people have not reported their test results to the Authority.

On 3 Jan 2022, USA set the world record of 1.08 million daily new cases. But the actual number may be 1.5 millions. God knows the real number!

The anti-gen at-home rapidly tests have about 85% accuracy. However, the accuracy also depends on the manufacturer. One test kit from an Australian manufacturer has been banned in USA because of the low accuracy.

Summary:
The number of infection in USA is very high but no one really know how high.
The Chinese virus is all over USA: many deer in several states across the country have been infected.

wtf…. however the omicron is not as strong as delta, which may become “just a flu” situation in the future

The government and the business sector cannot face the true and mis-direct the attention of the public.

First of all, there is a problem called Long COVID, infected people (including those asymptotic) can suffer Long COVID. There are very few studies on Long COVID and we know at this moment that about 10% to 30% of infected people suffered long COVID. The nature of long COVID is not yet well understood

There are much fewer studies on the effect of vaccines on long COVID. For the earlier variants of Covid-19, the studies suggest that the vaccines have no effect on long COVID. That is, no matter vaccinated or not, once infected by the Chinese virus, people have equal chance to get long COVID.

The death rate depends on whether the heart care system can handle so many sick people. Omicron makes many more people sick in such a short time that the hospitals may be overwhelmed by too many sick people and the death rate can go up a lot.

Finally, having so many infected people means having so many virus to replicate. This increase the chance of new variants that may be more deadly. Just think about Omicron is misleading because there are likely new variants created in the nature because of so many virus at here.

We would be very lucky if there are no new variants that create even larger problems to us.

does the long term effect refer to the omicron ? As there are no government talk about the long term symptoms caused by omicron

We don't know the long term effect of Omicron yet.

洪為民生日派對爆疫 邱達根徐英偉赴活動須隔離

新冠肺炎嚴峻，情況更蔓延至立法會。消息指，選委洪為民在本周一(3日)於灣仔灣景中心舉辦逾百人的生日派對，現場有不少官員、議員出席活動，惟其後有人為初步確診者。當日出席活動的議員包括陸瀚民、邱達根，以及民政事務局徐英偉，現時邱及徐正準備送往竹篙灣檢疫中心。

據了解，活動當日該名初步確診者有配戴口罩，僅送禮物祝賀，隨即便離開現場，當日更日以「流水席」形式舉辦。陸瀚民回覆查詢時表示，當日晚上出席一個活動，今天中午得悉在席有客人是初步確診者，他不認識該位客人，也沒有與此客人交談。他又指剛和家人已完成自願檢測，亦要求所有辦事處同事立即前往自願檢測，所有同事在家工作至另行通知。現在家等待檢測結果。另有指議員邱達根同場出席活動，正送往竹篙灣檢疫中心。

至於邱達根亦同赴活動，並已接獲強制隔離命令，將入住竹篙灣檢疫中心，而徐英偉亦是座上客，需要隔離。

另外，議員陳仲尼議員辦公室1名顧問，在1月3日曾與1名初步確診者有接觸，該顧問昨日(5日)曾到立法會，陳與這名初步確診者有不超過15秒的短暫接觸，料晚上可作檢測。

他接受查詢時表示，自己和顧問並非在立法會有所接觸，而是在位於灣仔的辦公室，當日正討論請人問題，期間雙方均有配戴口罩。至於陳與初步確診者接觸「只不過喺街見到」，簡單問候不超過15秒，事發後已立即通知所屬政黨及立法會秘書處，他連同議辦其他5名同事將接受檢測，而現時自己並沒有任何不適。

秘書處表示，得悉有議員早前曾與初步確診者接觸，相關議員及其助理已進行檢測。他們在取得陰性檢測結果前不會返回立法會綜合大樓及中信大廈的議員樓層。為謹慎起見，秘書處已安排清潔公司今天稍後在綜合大樓的議員樓層(即5至8樓)和公眾地方(包括立法會餐廳)，以及中信大廈13及15樓的議員樓層進行消毒。

Omicron蔓延｜新增33宗確診 10人曾與確診者同時陸田園餐廳用膳未能聯絡

衞生防護中心傳染病處主任張竹君與醫院管理局總行政經理（病人安全及風險管理）何婉霞於今日下午出席記者會，公布最新疫情資訊。

張竹君指，昨晚確診有33宗個案，其中30宗涉變種病毒Omicron。確診的國泰空姐母親曾光顧天后陸田園餐廳，與她一同用膳的兩名朋友染疫，這兩名朋友亦各有家人初步確診。居住屯門的42歲確診測量師，於同時段（去年12月31日早上8時50分到9時50分）光顧該餐廳，令陸田園餐廳成為本地社區的爆疫點。

張竹君又表示，有10名曾與確診者同時段光顧天后陸田園餐廳的顧客未能聯絡，由於有確診者曾在該餐廳用膳並爆發傳播，當局會發出強制檢測令，要求當日早上曾到該餐廳的市民盡快聯絡當局，進行制強制檢測。

今日新增的一宗初步確診個案曾到訪銅鑼灣皇室堡15樓拉斐特，確診的國泰空姐母親去年12月30日也曾到訪該處，當局不排除該處有爆發風險，已派員到現場調查。

此外，與違規國泰空少相關的又一城望月樓群組累計有8宗確診個案。

昨晚確診的33宗個案中，有28宗是輸入個案，包括2名貨機機組人員、11宗由菲律賓抵港、5宗尼泊爾抵港、5宗經由人道途徑抵港等。

張竹君不排除銅鑼灣皇室堡東海薈拉斐特餐廳內有傳播

本港新增33宗新型冠狀病毒確診個案。 衞生防護中心傳染病處主任張竹君表示，初步確診個案中，沒有立法會議員。對於有報道指，民政事務局局長徐英偉曾與初步確診出席同一聚會，張竹君回應指，暫時未有相關資料。 張竹君說，一名63歲初步確診者曾到銅鑼灣皇室堡東海薈拉斐特吃早餐，另一名確診者曾在同一食肆用膳，相信很大機會因此受感染，餐桌位置較近，不排除餐廳內有傳播，現時起碼有兩間食肆出現傳播，衞生防護中心及機電署代表已到東海薈拉斐特視察。

培僑中學停課3天 因家長初步確診

本港社區或現Omicron變種病毒隱形傳播鏈，爆發第五波疫情。東區直資中學培僑中學昨日向學生及家長發通知稱，因有學生家長通知初步確診新冠病毒，故校方決定停課3天，全校學生及教職員需前往檢測中心進行檢測，學生自昨日起毋需回校。暫未知初步確診學生家長屬於哪一個感染群組。

今增33宗確診 30宗屬Omicron 維園跳舞群組持續擴散

新冠肺炎疫情持續，衞生署衞生防護中心傳染病處主任張竹君醫生表示，今日(6日)新增33宗確診個案，30宗懷疑是Omicron。個案中有28宗為輸入病例，包括有2名機組人員、11名菲傭。而餘下5宗為輸入相關個案，4人與國泰空姐的母親相關，1人屬望月樓群組。另有逾30宗初步個案。

張竹君提到，染疫空姐母親曾光顧陸田園餐廳，該餐廳至今有5人確診，當局估計去年12月31日早上8至10點，有約20名食客在場，暫時5人已透過八達通尋獲，10人尚未尋獲。中心會再次發出強制檢測令，要求食客立刻做檢測並聯絡中心送檢。她又指陸田園部分人士的電話未能接通，難以追蹤個案。

早前確診印傭(個案12805)曾於1月1日至2日到訪教會，當局於教會發現另一名外傭中招，她居於大埔美新大廈，已完成接種由內地及德國共同研發的復必泰。她12月31日晚上乘72x線到旺角，轉乘102線巴士到教會，其後有在教會唱歌跳舞，期間有戴口罩。她1月2日早上與3名友人在維園進餐後，下午到教會，見過居於東寧大廈的確診外傭，期間交談1小時及擁抱，其後回家，3日至5日去過大元邨街市、大元邨體育館做檢測等，1月5日驗出病毒後送院。張竹君指，跳舞群組中不能排除有更多個案，正追蹤有關人士，而外傭個案眾多，亦有機會傳染予僱主，將會送他們入院。

另有1名初步確診者為居於跑馬地鳳輝台的67歲家庭主婦，已打齊2針。她1月1日曾與15名友人聚餐，其後到過黃泥涌街市、黃泥涌體育館、銅鑼灣街市、兒童醫院等，期間有小班教八段錦，中心仍在調查其流行病學關聯。

1名73歲退休人士亦中招，居於北角城市花園第三座。她12月31日曾到銅鑼灣社區中心與國泰空姐母親跳舞，與家人於前日(4日)送檢、昨日(5日)驗出病毒，今日發病後已經入院。她亦去過炮台山大快活、紀律部隊體育中心跳舞及四季軒等。

皇室堡東海薈•拉斐特的個案涉及1名63歲男士，他去年12月30日到食早餐，與國泰空姐母親同場，座位接近。他1月3日發病，前日到港大診所求醫並做檢測驗出病毒。行蹤包括油麻地好彩酒家、中央圖書館後的運動場做晨運、中華基督教會灣仔堂基道小學、康文署太極班等。

被問到停課的標準時，張竹君表示，政府會考慮多種因素處理停課的安排，輸入性相關主要視乎有否源頭及找出源頭個案，惟現時主要是本地感染，能追蹤個案至少能有傳播鏈方向，否則或出現隱形傳播鏈，安心出行的追蹤功能對他們找出傳播鏈較方便。