【Family gatherings are an important transmission channel for the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong】The fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong continued to worsen after the Lunar New Year holiday, with 600 new cases for two consecutive days, in 2022

【Family gatherings are an important transmission channel for the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong】 The fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong continued to worsen after the Lunar New Year holiday, with 600 new cases in two consecutive days, reaching a new high of 625 cases on 8 February 2022. In the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health of the HKSAR Government, cross-family gatherings are an important transmission channel, with at least 19 cohorts of more than 10 people, with a total of 367 infected people, of which the largest cohort infected 47 people. The chain of transmission of family gatherings involves the transmission of meals for relatives and friends, buildings or workplaces. Families with less than 10 people spread, not counted. Excluding the buildings where the patients lived, at least 46 of the 58 buildings visited by the patient on 6 February were residential buildings.

In view of the fact that family gatherings are an important channel for the transmission of the fifth wave of the epidemic, on the afternoon of February 8, the SAR government announced that it would ban more than two cross-family gatherings in private venues. Observers point out that such severe social restrictions, the first in Hong Kong, reflect the unprecedented severity of the fifth wave of the epidemic.