A care home for the elderly in Tsz Wan Shan is at the centre of a growing coronavirus outbreak. The number of new locally-acquired Covid-19 infections jumped to 19 on Wednesday, more than double the number of the day before. Candice Wong reports:

Six of the coronavirus cases reported on Wednesday are linked to restaurants in Choi Hung and Jordan and that has two infectious disease experts on the government's advisory panel on Covid-19 worried. They are calling for social distancing measures to be tightened again at restaurants. Wendy Wong has the details:

The Education Bureau has been urged to update its guidelines for schools on responding to coronavirus infections. The chairman of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, Teddy Tang, says principals are having to rely on their own professional judgement on what to do. He was speaking to Joanne Wong after a student studying in Wong Tai Sin was confirmed to have Covid-19:

The head of communicable disease at the Centre for Health Protection, Chuang Suk-kwan, says she's worried Hong Kong could now see another widespread outbreak of Covid-19. She urged the government to take more steps to contain the spread of the virus. Janice Wong asked the president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association, Arisina Ma, if she shares Chuang’s concerns:

Tens of thousands of civil servants are going to have to pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR and to uphold the Basic Law under new plans put forward by the government. New recruits and those getting promoted will be among the first required to declare their loyalty, as Timmy Sung reports:

Pro-Beijing lawmakers have criticised some civil servants for not being loyal after a group of them organised a rally against the extradition bill last year and others were involved in an unofficial referendum on the national security law. Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai says the oath-taking plan shows the government does not trust its own staff. But officials insist it's in line with requirements under the new national security law. Mike Weeks asked Elizabeth Bosher - a former deputy secretary for Economic Services - what she made of the new requirement:

The Secretary for Education, Kevin Yeung, says the protest song "Glory to Hong Kong" should be banned in schools because it disrupts their normal operations and is linked to violence and illegal acts. But government critics have hit back at those remarks, as Maggie Ho reports:

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Thursday says Canberra will offer visas to Hong Kong residents currently in Australia. It also says the Australian government is re-evaluating its extradition treaty with the SAR following Beijing's imposition of a national security law here. An announcement is expected by the end of the week. Robert Kemp has more:

The Trump administration is said to be considering undermining the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the greenback as parts of efforts to punish the SAR and Beijing over the national security law. But according to Bloomberg, concerns were raised about the negative impact this would have on global financial markets, and the move has not been discussed at senior US government levels. The report emerged as the Hong Kong Autonomy act awaits President Donald Trump's signature. Ben Emons, managing director of global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors in Los Angeles, told Mike Weeks more about the Bloomberg report: