Top Hong Kong official quits for attending birthday party during Covid lockdown

A top Hong Kong official has resigned after attending a birthday party in early January when the city was under lockdown and battling a coronavirus surge.

Secretary of home affairs Caspar Tsui was among several officials ordered to quarantine after the party, attended by around 200 guests, held for Witman Hung, a delegate to China’s legislature.

At least one guest later tested positive for Covid.

Mr Tsui admitted he had not “set the best example during the recent outbreak”.

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At the time, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and health officials had urged the public to avoid large gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mr Tsui said: "I made the wrong decision to attend a banquet on January 3 and behaved in an inappropriate manner when all efforts should have been devoted to controlling the spread of the virus.

"I will take responsibility for my actions, and I have therefore decided to resign from the position of secretary for home affairs."

Mr Tsui’s announcement came hours ahead of a planned news conference by Ms Lam, who is widely expected to announce the results of a disciplinary investigation into officials who had attended the party.

Ms Lam expressed disappointment at the behaviour of the officials and legislators who attended, and ordered those in quarantine to be suspended from their duties.

Hong Kong still has many strong anti-Covid regulations.

Restaurants still need to close at 6pm, proof of vaccination is required to gain access to many public areas and some apartment buildings remain under lockdown.

They recently cut the length of mandatory quarantine for people arriving from overseas from 21 to 14 days.This is different from mainland China where 21 days of quarantine is still required as part of its zero Covid strategy.