Executive Councillor and Legislative Council candidate Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said she has agreed to be admitted into hospital as advised by her doctor, as she has had a persistent cough since August 3.
She said in a Facebook post that she had taken antibiotics and steroids but she was still not cured.
“The doctor said my lungs are ok, but I keep having a fever – the viruses in my body have yet to be cleared. My doctor advised me to stay and rest at a hospital. I was emotional after I heard it, I was worried about the rest of the campaign,” she said. “This doctor has taken care of me for around ten years – I understand he is taking care of it, so I agreed.”
Ip, of the pro-Beijing New People’s Party, missed an election forum on Monday night hosted by the i-Cable TV channel.
She has also missed another forum hosted by RTHK a week ago.
Tanya Chan Suk-chong of the Civic Party questioned the members on Ip’s electoral list at the forum, as Ip had not yet announced that her absence was due to illness.
Chan later criticised Ip on social media, stating that – as Ip did not attend – two of her party members, who are both pregnant, have to take on all the questions, standing for some four hours during the forum.
Ip’s list has been the top rated one in a rolling poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme. According to the results, her list running in the Hong Kong Island constituency may win two seats out of six.
The full list of candidates in the Legislative Council election on September 4 can be viewed here.
