Hong Kong reports record daily high of 351 coronavirus cases - CNA

HONG KONG: Hong Kong reported 351 cases of coronavirus on Saturday (Feb 5), a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic, further pressuring the government's "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy as other major cities opt to live with the virus.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan said at a news conference she expects cases to rise "exponentially" following the Lunar New Year holiday due to an increase in family and social gatherings and appealed several times for people to stay indoors.

"Stay at home, please," Chan said as she again urged people, especially the elderly, to get vaccinated.

About 160 of the latest cases had no clear source and were still being investigated, authorities said.

The global financial hub has become one of the most isolated cities in the world, with flights down around 90 per cent due to strict coronavirus regulations and schools, playgrounds, gyms as well as most other venues shut. Restaurants close at 6pm.

The government this week extended a work-from-home plan for civil servants and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the city plans to roll out rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 to all its 7.5 million people in the near future.

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2022-02-05 10:17:00Z
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MOH conducting investigation of 103-year-old woman erroneously given 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine - CNA

“Our preliminary findings were that the vaccine was erroneously administered due to possible irregularities in vaccination procedures and poor communication between the nursing home and the medical service provider handling the vaccination,” it said.

“This is the first case of mistaken identity leading to erroneous vaccination by a mobile vaccination team in over 152,000 vaccinations to date.”

In a statement, ECON Healthcare Group said the error was discovered about five minutes after the vaccine was administered.

"The teams from ECON and PanCare attended to the resident, and extended the observation time. The resident had no adverse reaction during that time," it said. 

"ECON and PanCare take a serious view of the incident, and have reviewed our processes to prevent any further recurrence."

It also said that it has been rendering support to the resident's family and "will continue to do so".

MOH added that it planned to announce the incident in December. “However, the family of the resident had requested to withhold details which could have led to the identification of the resident,” it said.

“We have since consulted the family further and are releasing the information to provide clarity on the incident.

“We understand that ECON Healthcare Group and PanCare Medical Clinic have co-funded the resident’s hospital bill as a goodwill gesture. ECON Healthcare has also been in contact with the resident’s family to render support to them."

MOH added: “Both ECON Healthcare and PanCare Medical Clinic have reviewed their processes to prevent a recurrence.  The Agency for Integrated Care, whose role is to facilitate vaccinations in nursing homes, has reminded all nursing homes to ensure proper communications with the mobile vaccination teams when vaccination takes place.

“MOH has also reminded all mobile vaccination teams to perform independent identity verification and authentication before administering any vaccination.”

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2022-02-04 14:22:57Z
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Beijing will deliver 'safe and splendid' Games: Chinese President Xi - CNA

IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly defended his organisation's choice for the 2022 Olympics, saying the IOC was not a political body nor was its mandate to influence laws in sovereign states.

He said on Thursday that in the two years leading up to the Beijing Games he had seen "the dark clouds of the growing politicisation of sport on the horizon."

"We also saw that in some peoples' minds the boycott ghosts of the past were rearing their ugly heads again," Bach said.

The 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics were all hit by boycotts of countries during the Cold War era, severely denting the event's universality and finances.

"This is why we have been working even harder to get this unifying mission of the Olympic Games across to as many leaders and decision makers as possible," Bach said.

He also noted what he said were major commercial opportunities created by these Games which he expected would transform the global winter sports industry.

"Today we can say China is a winter sport country. This is why Beijing 2022 will be the start of a new era for global winter sport," Bach said.

He estimated China's winter sports industry to be worth some US$150 billion by 2025.

"From this tremendous growth the winter sports industry around the world will benefit," Bach said.

Catch the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 LIVE with nine dedicated channels on meWATCH. Sign in now at www.mewatch.sg/Beijing2022 and get into the action with Mediacorp, Singapore’s Olympics Network. Or catch highlights on Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube. 

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2022-02-03 03:25:00Z
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Norway predicted to top Winter Games medals table again - CNA

BEIJING: Norway will top the medals table for a second successive Winter Olympics with Germany in second place, according to final projections by Nielsen's Gracenote ahead of the Beijing Games.

The Norwegians, who won 14 gold and a record 39 medals in Pyeongchang, are forecast to raise those tallies to 21 gold and a total haul of 44.

The key to Norway's dominance will be their performances in cross-country skiing and biathlon, with 28 of the medals forecast to come in those sports.

Germany and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are predicted to take home 30 medals each, but with 11 golds to the ROC's 10, the Germans are in line to repeat their second-placed finish in Pyeongchang.

Russian athletes, competing under the flag of their Olympic committee because of doping sanctions, are projected to tie their previous best Winter Olympics tally from Sochi in 2014.

The United States is predicted to finish fourth in the table with seven golds, down from nine in 2018, but that would be enough to reassert their ascendancy over Canada.

The Canadians won 11 events in Pyeongchang to finish above their North American neighbours but are forecast to drop from third to fifth with six golds in Beijing.

Gracenote uses data from Olympics, World Championships and World Cups to feed a statistical model that forecasts the most likely gold, silver and bronze medallist in each event.

Host China is predicted to finish in 12th place with six golds and 13 medals overall, which would be their most successful Winter Olympics.

Japan is also expected to better its previous record of 13 medals with 19 while South Korea could take home only seven medals, down from 17 in Pyeongchang.

Gracenote said, however, that medal estimates for Asian countries may be lower due to the inactivity of athletes in many sports during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beijing Games run from Feb 4 to Feb 20.

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2022-02-02 07:08:00Z
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Winter Olympics: Which are the 15 sports at the Games and the key athletes to watch? - The Straits Times

Athletes in the aerials events – halfpipe, slopestyle and moguls – are scored by a panel of judges based on the complexity and skill involved in their tricks.

For big air, competitors are also judged by the height and distance of their jumps.

Ski cross is a timed event, where the first athlete to cross the finish line wins.

Events

• Aerials

• Big Air

• Halfpipe

• Moguls

• Ski Cross

• Slopestyle

Athletes to watch

With 13 events on offer, there are plenty of contenders, including David Wise (above, halfpipe) and Sarah Hoefflin (slopestyle), to look out for. However, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury seems a sure bet as the reigning Olympic and world champion in the moguls has the most men’s moguls World Cup titles (nine), and has won the most medals at the Freestyle World Championships (11) of any male competitor.

---

8. Ice hockey

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2022-02-02 21:00:00Z
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Pfizer-BioNTech seek US authorisation of COVID-19 shots for kids under 5 - CNA

The drug companies said they are asking the FDA for authorisation of the first two doses of a planned three-dose regimen.

"If two doses are authorised, parents will have the opportunity to begin a COVID-19 vaccination series for their children while awaiting potential authorisation of a third dose," Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said.

He said the company believes three doses of the vaccine will be needed "to achieve high levels of protection against current and potential future variants".

The companies expect to complete submitting data for the EUA in the coming days, with data on the third dose to follow.

Pfizer and BioNTech are testing a 3-microgram dose of the vaccine in the age group, compared with a 10-microgram dose in 5- to 11-year-olds and 30 micrograms for people aged 12 and older.

The companies said they expect to have ample supply of the 3-microgram shots should the FDA authorise the vaccine.

EVIDENCE OF CLINICAL BENEFIT?

Authorisation of a vaccine for younger children could help harried parents who have had to contend with quarantines and closures of pre-schools and daycare centres.

The move could speed up the inoculation timeline for US children this age by months. If a third dose is eventually authorised, many children could already have begun the regimen. Pfizer is currently testing two doses three weeks apart, followed by a third dose at least 8 weeks later.

In December, Pfizer said it was amending its clinical trial to test a three-dose version of the vaccine because the lower-dose generated an immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds that was inferior to the response measured in those aged 16 to 25. In 6- month- to 24-month-old children, the vaccine generated an immune response in line with 16- to 25-year-olds.

"The appropriateness of any EUA for under 5 for the vaccine will depend on what the data show beyond the antibody levels, for example any evidence of a clinical benefit," said Dr Walid Gellad, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh medical school.

The vaccine is already approved for emergency use in children in the United States as young as 5. It has full approval for adults.

The FDA also has authorised a third booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot for adults and children aged 12 and older. It gave the green light for a two-dose vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

It remains unclear how many parents will choose to vaccinate their younger children.

Vaccinating children has been slow in the United States with only around 22 per cent of 5- to 11 year-olds having received two shots since the campaign to inoculate that age group began in November.

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2022-02-01 23:45:00Z
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Pet owners go private to jet 'fur babies' out of Hong Kong - CNA

HONG KONG: Bags packed and ready to go, Hong Kong house cats Teddy and Newman were all set for leaving on a private jet plane - an expensive last resort for their owners as the city piles on pandemic restrictions.

China remains one of the few places left in the world pursuing a strict "zero-COVID" policy, transforming Hong Kong, a one-time aviation hub, into a city where thwarted travel plans and cancelled flights are the norm.

The emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in recent weeks has also seen authorities ban incoming flights and transit passengers from numerous countries - upending plans for the already limited number of carriers still entering the city.

For Lee, a Hong Konger emigrating to Britain, it also meant that ferrying his beloved elderly cats Teddy and Newman out by commercial airline was no longer possible.

"It is an exceptional situation," Lee told AFP ahead of last week's flight, providing only his family name.

"If it was just my wife and I travelling, of course we wouldn't take a private jet. It's only because of our cats."

Typically favoured by the ultra-rich, private planes are now a mode of transport desperate pet owners are turning to when departing the increasingly isolated city.

With commercial airlines already restricting the number of animals that can be transported on a plane, the spate of flight cancellations has created a massive backlog of outbound pets stuck in the city.

Animal travel company Pet Holidays said December's flight suspensions alone left 3,000 to 4,000 cats and dogs stranded.

"No amount of money can buy them a seat" on a commercial flight, said Fanny Liang, the company's pet emigration consultant.

For a chartered private jet, an all-inclusive package for a house cat -- and their human - runs to about US$23,100 at Pet Holidays, though Liang said the costs vary based on the animal's size.

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2022-02-01 12:54:06Z
CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9wZXQtb3duZXJzLWdvLXByaXZhdGUtamV0LWZ1ci1iYWJpZXMtb3V0LWhvbmcta29uZy0yNDcyNjAx0gEA