Coronavirus

“Our Central retail portfolio is a global, brand-defining destination and we are seeing several of our tenants eyeing expansion and innovation. We will be announcing exciting plans to innovate and optimise retail space in the Central portfolio in the first quarter of 2024.” The developer has seen a 15 per cent increase in footfall in […]

Hong Kong has detected seven cases of a highly infectious Omicron subvariant that has raised alarm overseas, authorities have said, although experts have stressed that the local infections should not be a cause for concern. The Department of Health said on Monday seven cases of XBB.1.16, known as Arcturus, which was first detected in India

The group already owns nine hotels – seven in Hong Kong, one in Shanghai and one in London. If its plan to acquire more properties priced between HK$700 million and HK$1.4 billion each is realised it is likely to end up with 4,000 keys, up from 3,000 currently, which would make it one of the

“In some areas, tourists are complaining about the quality of service even after they paid a large sum of money because hotels and inns lack staff to clean up rooms or serve food.” According to the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News, some hotels in Yangshuo, a resort town in southwest China’s Guangxi province, charged guests prices

Sales of tickets for overseas flights were eight times higher than during the Labour Day holiday last year, Trip.com data showed. About 70 per cent of those flights were to destinations in Asia, led by Hong Kong, Bangkok, Macau and Singapore. The travel bonanza will have given a welcome boost to consumption, according to Peng

The centre would “adjust the process for emergency visa applications, so that applicants won’t have to queue in the scorching heat”, she said. It would move visa appointment bookings online, increase the number of daily appointments and waive any extra fees, she added. Still, it has not stopped many from braving the heat and setting

“We are grateful for this approval decision and are committed to bringing this vaccine to people in Hong Kong as soon as possible.” Moderna’s bivalent Covid vaccine will be Hong Kong’s second such jab available for residents. Photo: Reuters The German-made BioNTech bivalent jab, targeting Omicron, was the first such vaccine to be approved for

Hong Kong health experts on Saturday warned that the Covid-19 wave might have peaked but parents should still be aware of rising cases of respiratory diseases following the lifting of the mask mandate. Paediatrics Professor Lau Yu-lung from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) told a radio programme that the city’s Covid-19 caseload should have

The British government on Thursday refused an order to hand over a sheaf of Boris Johnson’s personal messages to a Covid-19 pandemic inquiry that the former prime minister himself set up when he was the UK’s leader. The head of the probe, retired judge Heather Hallett, asked to see notebooks, diaries and WhatsApp messages between

The number of coronavirus infections in Hong Kong will drop in a “few more weeks” following the peak of the sixth wave, according to a leading government pandemic adviser who has also reassured residents Covid-19 has become endemic. Many Hongkongers had been infected for the first or second time in recent weeks amid a surge

It tested a drug called metformin, which was originally developed from the French lilac flower, and has been the most common medication used to treat type 2 diabetes across the world for decades. 07:02 Understanding long Covid: why researchers are turning to gut bacteria for answers Understanding long Covid: why researchers are turning to gut

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) vice-chairman Fang Xinghai said he expects greater capital inflows to the mainland’s A-share market after talks with international asset managers to soothe their concerns about the potential for further US-China decoupling. Fang told reporters on the sidelines of the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on Friday that net inflows to the

He said he had “received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”. 03:45 Boris Johnson’s rise to power and what led to his downfall as UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s rise

Hong Kong-based asset manager Panda Residential is seeking to raise as much as £1 billion (US$1.2 billion/HK$9.4 billion) from outside investors in the region to bet on the recovery of the UK commercial property market. The fund, whose backers include the heir of the Sasa cosmetics retail chain in the city, deems it opportune to

Keith said the coronavirus pandemic had brought “death and illness on an unprecedented scale” in modern Britain. He said that Covid-19 has been recorded as a cause of death for 226,977 people in the UK “The key issue is whether that impact was inevitable,” Keith said. “Were those terrible consequences inexorable, or were they avoidable

The abating Covid-19 pandemic could result in up to 2,000 North Koreans being sent back to their country from China to face imprisonment or worse, US lawmakers heard in testimony on Tuesday. The experts who spoke urged the international community to pressure China and the United Nations to prevent their return. Witnesses told the Congressional-Executive

China’s civil aviation industry is still running at a loss, having been one of the hardest hit during the coronavirus pandemic, and is calling for government support as the ghosts of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy over the past three years continue to haunt the world’s second-largest economy. The struggles of the state-controlled industry, despite being among

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday classified the JN.1 coronavirus strain as a “variant of interest”, but said it did not pose much threat to public health. “Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low,” WHO said. JN.1 was previously classified as a

The World Health Organization’s European office on Tuesday warned the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.” “Whilst it may not

A key lesson Hong Kong should learn from the Covid-19 pandemic is the need to radically boost its research and development capabilities and consider setting up its own drug regulatory approval system, the health minister said, as he outlined his plans to transform the city into a biomedical innovation hub. Giving the city a powerful