Hong Kong locks down thousands for compulsory COVID-19 testing

The government said there were 70 buildings in the “restricted area” of Jordan and that it aims to finish the process within about 48 hours.

Published - January 23, 2021 08:18 am IST - HONG KONG

A police officer stands guard at the Yau Ma Tei area, in Hong Kong, Saturday, January 23, 2021. Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city, authorities said.

A police officer stands guard at the Yau Ma Tei area, in Hong Kong, Saturday, January 23, 2021. Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city, authorities said.

Hong Kong’s government locked down an area of Kowloon peninsula on January 23, saying its 10,000 residents must stay home until all of them have been tested for the new coronavirus and results largely determined.

The government said there were 70 buildings in the “restricted area” of Jordan and that it aims to finish the process within about 48 hours, so that people can start getting to work on January 25.

Hong Kong authorities have taken aggressive measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asian financial and airline hub, but Saturday’s move is the first lockdown in theChinese-ruled city.

Many buildings are old and poorly maintained in the small,densely populated area, where subdivided units are common, said health secretary Sophia Chan.

“The infection risk in the community is quite high,” shet old a news conference. “After assessment, we think it’s necessary to make a restriction-testing declaration in the restricted area to achieve the goal of zero cases.”

The restricted area has confirmed 162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 this month, and the ratio of virus detected in sewage samples from buildings there was higher than that of other areas.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.