Outraged 13 Officials Attend Party Causing COVID-19 Infection, Hong Kong Leader Orders Research

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. (Wikimedia Commons/RISE)

JAKARTA - Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, ordered an investigation into the behavior of 13 senior government officials who attended the birthday party of a delegate to China's legislature, where two of the 170 guests tested positive for the coronavirus.

The officials, along with 19 members of Hong Kong's new legislative council, have all tested negative so far, along with other guests being sent to quarantine facilities, as authorities struggle to contain a new wave of infections.

Lam said in a statement late Friday she ordered a detailed investigation of "whether the presence of 13 officials at the banquet constituted a disciplinary offense".

"I have instructed all the quarantined officials that they should not continue their duties and are required to take their own vacation leave for quarantine", he said.

The party to mark the 53rd birthday of Witman Hung, a city delegate to the national legislature, took place on Monday, before new restrictions on social life took effect, but after Lam appealed to Hong Kong people to avoid large gatherings.

Three consecutive months of no community transmission ended on December 31, with confirmation of the city's first local infection with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Several more cases have been detected since then and hundreds of their close contacts have been sent into quarantine.

Senior officials in attendance included Interior Minister Casper Tsui, Immigration Director Au Ka-wang, Police Commissioner Raymond Siu, and the head of the city's Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, Simon Peh, authorities said. The four and others have issued public apologies.

It was the second statement for Au, who paid a fine last year for attending a luxury private club dinner with more people than four people allowed at the time.

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world to stick to the goal of stopping local transmission of the virus altogether, with strict quarantine and largely self-isolating from the rest of the world.

Last Friday, Hong Kong banned eating in restaurants after 6 pm, closed venues including bars and clubs, fitness centers, beauty salons, and swimming pools, and group gatherings limited to no more than four people.