China covid testing

Covid cases continue to escalate in Hong Kong, rising to a record 614 reported cases today. With hospitals nearing capacity, those testing positive will now be sent to government quarantine camps and close contacts will be told to isolate at home.

More than 500 untracable cases have been logged in the latest outbreak in a sign that no amount of contact tracing will be able to stop it. Top officials say the exponential phase has begun with more than 1000 daily cases likely soon.

Hong Kong doesn't have the same strict regime on control as mainland China but this could be a preview of what's coming next. The different approaches also make travel and commerce between Hong Kong and the mainland extremely difficult.

The surge in cases comes after last week's Lunar New Year holidays.

There's growing pressure to ease covid restrictions and shift to a 'living with covid' approach. Officials also struggled to reach high vaccine numbers early in the pandemic due to the lack of cases. They're hoping for a larger uptake and are putting more vaccine passport requirements in place.

In China, the city of Baise was locked down today after 98 people tested positive in the southern city of 3.6 million.

China will continue with its extensive vovid zero policy said, Wu Zunyou, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s chief epidemiologist.

This will be a key week to watch for Chinese covid cases as we see the fallout from holiday get togethers. Surveys released today also show that 70% of domestic tourists took short-distance trips over the week-long holiday. Trips were down 43.7%, according to online travel agency Qunar.com.