Two Charged for Misleading Contact-Tracing Information

The first local mutant virus strain was found in Jordan in April

A 29-year-old engineer who came back to Hong Kong on holiday from working in Dubai has been charged along with his 31-year-old female friend for withholding details or providing misleading information after it was discovered they were carrying a mutant strain of Covid-19 in the community.

They were arrested Saturday morning taken to Yau Ma Tei police station, the man charged with giving misleading information, the woman for refusing to provide more detailed information.

The pair were taken to Yau Ma Tei police station

It was recently discovered there was a link between the couple and three domestic helpers who were also infected with the same strain of the mutated virus.

The man and his girlfriend, who were infected around three weeks ago, met relatives in Chai Wan, and then three people from that gathering met with the three domestic helpers a few days later in Tung Chung.

Under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, anyone who knowingly gives false or misleading information in such matters -- including whereabouts, medical history and contact with others -- faces a HK$10,000 fine and six months in jail.

It's good the authorities are cracking down on those who have been found to be withholding information, as this is about protecting public health.

How about charges for those dancing tai tais?

But what about those tai tais and their friends who danced nights away mask-less in dance clubs in November? They refused to reveal all the people they came into contact with. Why not prosecute them? They are responsible for the extended fourth wave we all had to go through...