(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong is extending gathering limits to private premises for the first time in an attempt to keep residents from socializing as it fights an unprecedented outbreak.
Authorities are turning to increasingly strict measures, using a Covid Zero strategy that’s been abandoned in much of the rest of the world. Hong Kong residents are also facing a shortage of fresh food and rising prices as controls in mainland China leave truck drivers unable to enter the city.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized a trucker protest paralyzing Ottawa, saying demonstrators denouncing restrictions are hobbling commerce and trying to undermine democracy. Protesters shut the Ambassador Bridge, a key road link between the U.S. and Canada.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 397 million; deaths pass 5.7 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 10.2 billion shots administered
- Hong Kong Food Prices Soar as Covid Curbs Trigger Panic Buying
- Goldman’s five-day office week is the aberration now
- Covid rebellion brews in Canada, sending warning across globe
- Is Covid becoming endemic? What would that mean?: QuickTake
China Sees Omicron Outbreak Spreading (3:53 p.m. HK)
An omicron outbreak in the city of Baise may further spread in Guangxi province and Guangzhou city in Guangdong, an official at the National Health Commission said. A flareup in the northeastern border town of Heihe also risks spreading further.
An earlier Covid outbreak in Beijing and Tianjin are under control, however, according to the authorities.
Hong Kong Tightens Restrictions (3:52 p.m. HK)
Multi-household gatherings on private premises will be limited to two families, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday.
The city will also limit public gatherings to two people, down from four currently, and expand the list of venues included in its vaccine mandate to shopping malls, food markets and hair salons.
Lam said she would stick to a Covid Zero strategy, while indicating the city would steer clear of implementing a mainland China-style lockdown.
Sweden to Scrap Most Measures (3:46 p.m. HK)
Sweden’s government is not planning to extend the majority of current Covid-measures further, with most restrictions set to be lifted from Feb. 9, Finance Minister Mikael Damberg said.
It’s time to return to “normality,” the minister said, adding that support measures for companies are to stay in place through February.
New Zealand Protesters Mimic Ottawa (12:45 p.m. HK)
A convoy of cars and campervans blocked streets around New Zealand’s parliament in Wellington on Tuesday to protest Covid-19 restrictions, attempting to mimic the truckers who have gridlocked the Canadian city of Ottawa.
About 2,000 protesters descended on downtown Wellington from around the country, parking their vehicles in streets around parliament buildings, disrupting traffic and holding speeches on parliament grounds.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had no intention of engaging with the protesters. “I think it would be wrong to in any way characterize what we’ve seen outside as a representation of the majority,” she told reporters inside parliament.
Protesters Close Key Canada-U.S. Bridge (11:30 a.m. HK)
Protests against vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions have temporarily closed the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest land connection for trade between the U.S. and Canada.
The bridge, the largest crossing point between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is closed in both directions, according to a Canadian government website.
Trudeau Criticizes Trucker Protest (9:15 a.m. HK)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed protesting truck drivers for “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens’ daily lives.” Police have so far not been able to contain the demonstrations, and the city of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency. The protesters say they won’t leave until all Covid health restrictions are dropped.
Trudeau, speaking on the floor of the legislature for the first time since the crisis began, also used the protest to criticize the rival Conservative Party. He dismissed the opposition’s contention that the columns of big rigs parked along major thoroughfares in Ottawa are emblematic of a country bitterly divided over the pandemic.
“This is a story of a country that got through this pandemic by being united, and the few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are,” Trudeau said, referring to images from the initial days of the protest two weekends ago showing signs and flags adorned with Nazi symbols.
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