Hong Kong lifts mandatory mask wearing in three years

head of the special administrative region Hong KongJohn Lee Ka Chiu, confirmed on Tuesday that masks will no longer be mandatory both outdoors and indoors from March 1, ending one of the longest-running measures against the new coronavirus in the world.

The mask will be mandatory in some places, such as medical facilities, he added during a press conference in statements compiled by the state network CGTN.

Hong Kong Thus ends three years of mandatory face coverings, one of the places that has maintained this mandate the longest in the world. Macau Special Administrative Region He also announced this Monday that masks will no longer be mandatory outdoors, although they will remain in public transport and medical facilities, the latter can decide at their discretion.

In early February, Chinese authorities announced the lifting of restrictions on travel between their territories, in another of the toughest measures in the fight against corona virus, allowing transportation between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. In addition, on February 8, China opened its international borders.

China: 83 thousand deaths since the end of “Zero COVID”

China has recorded a total of 83,150 COVID-19-related hospital deaths between Dec. 8, when the COVID-zero policy began to be phased out, and Feb. 9, according to data from Chinese Center for Disease Control.

92.02% of deaths were due to exacerbation of the underlying disease in combination with COVID-19indicates the report.

The rest of the deaths were mostly due to respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus, which quickly spread across the country in December and January after restrictions were eased.

The CDC reported last week that the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country’s polyclinics fell by 97.6% on February 6, compared with a peak of 4,273 deaths recorded on January 4.

Chief Epidemiologist, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wu Zunyuassured at the beginning of the month that the likelihood that the country will face a “new wave of COVID-19 infections” in the coming months is “negligible”.

The population’s immune defenses are “high,” Wu said, adding that China “he just survived a wave of infections” from which “most people have already recovered.”

Compared to three years ago, the virus and its variants have “weakened their pathogenicity,” said the expert, who is quoted today in a local newspaper. Global Times.

(According to Europa Press)