Respiratory medicine specialist Leung Chi-chiu says now is a good time for Hong Kong to further relax social distancing measures. He suggests the LeaveHomeSafe app can go, as well as the four-person limit on public gatherings. Ada Au reports:

The operator of the Kai Tak cruise terminal says Hong Kong should follow international norms and lift all restrictions on cruises. From this week, voyages will no longer be suspended over suspected Covid cases on board. But Jeff Bent, the managing director of Worldwide Cruise Terminals, says this only applies to so-called "cruises-to-nowhere" and if any ships do come back to the territory, there is still a ban on stops at overseas ports. He told Kelly Yu that the government's move was welcome, but was not enough:

Cathay Pacific says the government has relaxed quarantine rules for its air crews and they are no longer required to remain in closed-loop bubbles while overseas. The airline says the move will allow it to run more flights. Damon Pang reports:

A survey suggests the pandemic has put people off from donating blood, with a 60 percent drop in donations. The Hong Kong Society of Clinical Blood Management surveyed about 450 people in July and just over 60 percent said they had donated blood in the past. But around 90 percent of these former donors said they had not given any blood during the fifth wave of the pandemic, with most citing fears of getting infected with Covid while donating. More than 80 percent said they did not resume giving blood even after a wave of infections peaked earlier in the year. A former president of the society, Dr Chow Yu-fat, told Vanessa Cheng that the situation was worrying:

An astronomer says Hong Kong has some "very smart" students who might be good candidates for astronauts, but they will also need to meet vigorous physical and psychological requirements. Applications open on Thursday for Hongkongers to apply to China's space programme, for the first time ever. Sun Kwok is the founding director of the University of Hong Kong's Laboratory for Space Research, which he says was created purely to take advantage of China's space programme. He told Ben Tse that local students, compared to those on the mainland, might be able to offer a more international perspective and open mind to problem solving:

Britain's new prime minister Liz Truss is under pressure from party members to ensure benefits rise in line with inflation. It is the latest row to dominate the annual Tory party conference, taking place in the city of Birmingham. Earlier, the chancellor of the exchequer made a U-turn over scrapping the top rate of tax for the highest paid. RTHK's UK correspondent, Gavin Grey, told Samantha Butler that Truss had essentially thrown her finance minister “under the bus”: