【明報專訊】The Lunar New Year is around the corner. However, as COVID-19 cases of unknown origin keep increasing, Hong Kong is on the brink of losing control of the pandemic. Two cluster infections, namely that of a pet shop and that of a South Asian woman, have continued to enlarge. There might be hidden chains of transmission in Sham Shui Po and Mei Foo, and many secondary schools have registered new cases. Given the significantly heightened risk of a massive outbreak and the fact that the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is merely 70%, tightening social distancing restrictions is the only option at present.