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Hong Kong secondary schools will only be allowed to conduct full-day classes on campus if 90 per cent of their students have been triple-vaccinated against Covid-19, with education authorities tightening the existing two-jab requirement.
The same threshold also applies to secondary and primary school students from October if they hope to take part in extracurricular and mask-off activities such as music and sports, according to a letter from the Education Bureau to the sector on Tuesday.
“We encourage staff and students to get vaccinated as far as possible to protect themselves and others, if they are suitable for vaccination,” it wrote. “[We] also demand that schools actively reach out to those who have yet to get vaccinated to understand their concerns and difficulties, and encourage them to get the jabs.”
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Hong Kong kindergartens want half-day classes to go on, despite Covid-19 spike
The tightening of the vaccine requirements, announced two days ahead of the commencement of the school year on Thursday, aimed to “further strengthen the protective shield for schools”, according to the circular sent to kindergartens, as well as primary and secondary schools.
The stepped-up measures came five months after the bureau required secondary schools to ensure 90 per cent of students were double-vaccinated to resume in-person, full-day sessions.
From November, secondary schools that do not meet the threshold are only allowed to resume half-day classes.
It added that full-day, in-person classes at kindergartens and primary schools will remain suspended as the vaccination rate among children aged three to 11 remained low.
Hong Kong private hospitals ‘could be punished’ over low non-Covid patient intake
As of Monday, only 10.97 per cent of children aged between three and 11 in Hong Kong had received a third vaccine dose, while the rate for those aged 12 to 19 stood at 52.88 per cent.
Officials also announced a reward scheme for schools with high vaccination rates.
The city logged 8,488 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including 236 imported infections.
Meanwhile, the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant was suspended after five participants tested positive for the coronavirus.
The announcement by broadcaster TVB marked the first time the annual event has been affected by the pandemic, with the station successfully holding the contest in the past two years under social-distancing restrictions.
The semi-final of this year’s instalment, initially set for Sunday, will be rescheduled to an undetermined date to allow for full recovery of affected candidates.
All contenders will have to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, while rehearsals and promotional activities will be halted.
The organiser will announce further broadcast arrangements later.
Hong Kong daily Covid numbers set to hit 10,000 mark ‘in coming days’
Separately, with a spate of infections also coming from within government ranks, a health expert has called for tighter measures for the sector. Eight top officials have tested positive for Covid-19 within a month.
Microbiologist Ho Pak-leung urged authorities to tighten entry requirements for staff at the government headquarters in Admiralty, requiring all civil servants to be fully vaccinated, while top ministers should undergo daily PCR tests.
“This is not difficult at all, since it’s concentrated at one location. Medical staff could set up a checkpoint at a suitable spot to collect samples daily.
“It would be done in a matter of hours for the several thousand staff members at the headquarters. This way, everyone can be reassured and disturbance to government operations can be kept to a minimum,” Ho told a radio show on Tuesday.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Coronavirus: Hong Kong cases could ‘peak at 20,000 a day’, expert says, with top health officials set to meet pandemic advisers over surge
- Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader John Lee to pursue reopening of border with mainland China on Guangdong trip
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