8:30am-9:15am: Covid-19 updates

8:30am-9:15am: Prof Roberto Bruzzone, Co-Director, HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, School of Public Health, HKU 

8:30am-9:15am: Jean Woo, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK; Director, CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing

9:00am-9:15am: Dolores Balladares, Spokesperson, Asian Migrants Coordinating Body

9:15am-9:30am: Pets left behind

9:15am-9:30am: Fiona Woodhouse (in photo), Deputy Director of Welfare, SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)


On Tuesday's Backchat, Covid-19 updates; and pets left behind.
Foreign domestic helpers start flying in Hong Kong from Monday. The only hotel designated for their quarantine, is already completely booked for September, at a cost of HK$800 per night.
Meanwhile, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said the city should maintain its zero-Covid strategy for the time being, while suggesting that herd immunity is no longer achievable with the emergence of the Delta variant.
Hong Kong schools are likely to be running half-day sessions when the new term begins on September 1, as almost none have reached the required 70 per cent threshold of vaccinations.

As we mostly record imported cases, is it right to let helpers in? Does the zero-Covid strategy really work? How do we encourage people to get vaccinated if herd immunity can no longer achieved? Are half-days appropriate?
After 9.15am, we’re discussing pets being left homeless as their owners leave Hong Kong.