9 December 2021

Dear Parents and Students,

As we near the end of 2021, the world's pandemic has not subsided. The number of confirmed cases worldwide has reached 260 million, and the number of deaths worldwide has reached more than 5 million. We are blessed that the pandemic in Hong Kong and our country is under better control than other places. This is the result of our unity, perseverance, effort, and of course, the government's timely measures to strictly control foreign imports. Meanwhile, there are many examples of failures in other countries which have led to many fatal cases. Do our lives matter? Is it worth the risk? Can we guarantee that we will not be affected? Is there any way to reduce harm to the body when the disease attacks?

In the Bible's Gospel of Luke, there was a question raised by a lawyer who wanted to test Jesus, so he asked him: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus replied: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Luke 10:25-28). People who "love your neighbor as yourself" can be understood as all the people or neighbors around us. Jesus used an analogy that a man fell into the hands of a robber. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him to death, and left him. A priest saw him and passed by, and another Levite saw him and passed by. Only a Samaritan saw him, and moved compassionately to pour oil and wine on his wounds and wrap them up. This story of the Samaritan teaches us to pay attention to the needs of the people around us, not just to look after our own, but to take care of others and to give care and support, so as to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Recently, the COVID-19 variant “Omicron” has spread from South Africa. Countries around the world have issued warnings, and two cases have been reported in Hong Kong. The situation cannot be underestimated. The variant “Omicron” contains 32 mutation points, which will make it more difficult for immune cells to attack pathogens, thus increasing the ability to spread. When it unfortunately is spread into a community, the outcome is unpredictable. Many people think that they are in good health and that it does not matter if they are not vaccinated. This is completely wrong, just think about it. The rate of change of the variant is unpredictable, and no one can guarantee that their resistance is continually at a high level. Why use our body as a bet to test the power of the variant? In fact, there are many people who really cannot get vaccinated. Our vaccination not only protects ourselves, but also protects this particularly vulnerable group. It is in the spirit of "love your neighbor as yourself" and gives us the opportunity to speak through our actions. I hope parents can encourage their daughters and lead by example. By taking a step further for our community, we can also achieve the school's goal of resuming whole day classes after the exams in January 2022.

Starting from 2 December 2021, adolescents aged 12 to 17 will be given priority to receive the Sinovac vaccine. If the school's student population can reach 70% of students being vaccinated (see table below) for 14 days or more, the school can resume full-time face-to-face classes. If students at individual levels reach these conditions, we can also allow the relevant levels to have full-time face-to-face classes and other activities.

Best regards,
Constance Cheung
Principal

“We love because he first loved us.”
(1 John 4:19)