People declaring Covid infections after taking rapid antigen tests will no longer be required to take PCR tests, with health authorities instead carrying out spot checks. They say this is to ensure the best use of testing resources, as Mike Weeks reports:

One of the government's pandemic advisors says there is no need to tighten social distancing measures despite the continuing rise in Covid infections. But Lau Yu-lung also believes the current wave of Omicron subvariants will infect many more people in Hong Kong before it starts to subside. Wendy Wong reports:

The president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants says a new rule for some diners to get tested for Covid has been implemented smoothly, even though there were minor hiccups at some restaurants. Simon Wong said staff were managing okay and business had not been affected. He told Violet Wong that most diners were aware a negative test result was needed if they were dining out in groups of more than eight people:

An infectious diseases specialist says he expects more students will get Covid-19 when they returned to classrooms on Thursday. Dr Wilson Lam says it is important to flatten the curve to protect the healthcare system. He also told Wendy Wong that he welcomed the appeal by the government for students and teachers to test themselves for the virus for two consecutive days ahead of the new academic year:

Shenzhen authorities have suspended services at 24 subway stations in a bid to curb a Covid outbreak. Cecil Wong reports:

Oxfam Hong Kong has called on the government to set new guidelines on when sanitation personnel should stop working during episodes of extreme heat and to grant them high temperature subsidies. The NGO spoke to some 200 sanitation workers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department between June and July. It found over two-thirds had felt physically unwell at work, with some developing heat-related illnesses. Wong Shek-hung, Oxfam’s programme director for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, told Vanessa Cheng that the government’s current rules were no longer sufficient to protect workers:

A man who was shot in the stomach by a policeman during the social unrest three years ago has been found guilty of obstructing the officer and attempting to snatch his gun. He and another young man will be sentenced by the District Court in about a month and a half from now. Maggie Ho reports:

The Chief Executive John Lee has led the tributes for former top banker, Vincent Cheng, who has died at the age of 74. He was the first Chinese Executive Director of HSBC Holdings. Violet Wong reports:

Another of China's oil giants has recorded a big rise in first-half profits, despite an economy hobbled by Covid restrictions. Altis Wong reports:

The scorching heatwave and drought in Sichuan province and Chongqing has broken, with torrential rain drenching southwest China. But the welcome downpour has already triggered a flood response system, as Priscilla Ng reports: