Political Elites Reveal True Colours

The restaurant where the party was held now has a reputation

Birthday-gate is getting bigger, with now the possibility of 200 guests who came and went at Witman Hung Wai-man's celebrations and not all of them used the Leave Home Safe app.

One offender was Dr Daniel Chu Wai-sing, husband of RTHK host Joyce Yeung who was later found to be a false-positive case.

Chu admits he did not use tracing app

He admitted on a radio show on Monday that he did not scan the Leave Home Safe app, saying he did not see it, and questioned the radio hosts of they were indeed "law abiding" when they were out and about.

Sounds like someone trying to dismiss the government-mandated app, and also make it sound like it's normal to not obey the rules?

It's turning into an intense investigation into who was where at what time, and guests having to prove it through their Leave Home Safe app. But if they didn't use it, then they look foolish, particularly if they are pro-establishment and supposed to be setting a good example and following government guidelines.

Meanwhile if police find ordinary people have not used the app when raiding a bar or restaurant, they are fined HK$5,000. Will these guests of Witman's be fined as well as quarantined?

Close contacts will quarantine for 14 days now

And domestic helpers enjoying their precious day off on a Sunday are subjected to checks by officers, telling them to sit 1.5 metres apart and a maximum of four to a group -- outdoors. 

At the moment space at Penny's Bay is quickly filling up to capacity, and health experts have suggested that close contacts should only be quarantined for 14 days instead of 21, which the government has finally agreed to. However, those arriving into Hong Kong will still have to quarantine for 21 days.

"We have seen many more confirmed cases lately and therefore many more close contacts, putting pressure on the capacity of quarantine centres. We also considered the fact that the incubation period for Omicron is quite short, within 14 days for most local and imported cases we have seen in Hong Kong," Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said this afternoon at a press briefing.

Last week 350 people were sent to quarantine, including the infamous birthday party, a dancing cluster, and church-going domestic helpers, and patrons in two restaurants.

Chuang says incubation for Omicron is short

Some of these infected cases can be traced back to Cathay Pacific crew not following their internal quarantine rules, and so there are hints Beijing wants Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to discipline the airline even further.

Cathay is pretty much on its last legs, trying desperately to stay alive as well as keep its cargo flights going to bring food, vaccines and other necessities into Hong Kong. If the government shuts down Cathay, then are we supposed to depend on Air China? 

The heat is on, and it's not going to be good for anyone, except maybe for the partygoers who may escape  punishment because of their political allegiance... or maybe not...