By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Map from Food & Health Bureau shows an entire block in Sham Shui Po has been locked down |
Several buildings in Sham Shui Po, Jordan and Tin Shui Wai have been sealed off overnight, as the government undertakes “ambush lockdowns” for the second day in a row in a bid to put the coronavirus infections under control.
Locked down for about 12 hours starting at about 7pm tonight are 17 buildings located in an entire block in Sham Shui Po, a couple of blocks on three roads, including Nathan Road in Jordan, and Heng Lok House in Tin Shui Wai.
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The lockdown order, officially called as “restriction-testing declaration,” requires everyone who had stayed in designated buildings to undergo tests for Covid-19, or face sanctions.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended the quick lockdowns amid criticism that they had been ineffective, as the past six such operations yielded no new infections.
“First of all as I have said many times, in terms of public health, a lot of the work done is preventive. In fact, to have zero transmission and zero infection is the best-ever public health achievement that could be made by every authority. The purpose of doing compulsory tests and this "restriction-testing declaration" is with that objective in mind, that we want to achieve zero case for the whole community,” said Lam.
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She argued that residents who had gone through the test are better assured that their living area is safe if no new cases emerge.
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| Ambush lockdown in Sham Shui Po is underway (RTHK photo) |
The new lockdowns came as health officials announced 25 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, the lowest in more than two weeks. All but one of the cases were locally acquired, and four of these were of unknown source.
The sole imported case was an air crew who arrived from
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Among the unlinked cases were six patients who all dined
together between Jan 28 and 29 in
Three of them work in Uniqlo clothing store on the fifth
floor of
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Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said the patients were friends who gathered for a meal in a private home, but since three worked at the same place, they could not rule out that the infection happened in the workplace.
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| Chuang says the 3 infected staff from Uniqlo partied with 8 others on Jan 28 |
“We suspect that the gathering may be the cause of the spread of infections among friends. But as three of them work in the same workplace, either full-time or part-time, there’s still a possibility that there’s some silent transmission in the workplace,” said Chuang.
As a result, 80 staff at Uniqlo - 20 fulltime and 50 parttime - were ordered to undergo Covid-19 tests, and the store has been closed for disinfection.
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Chuang said was not likely customers were infected, but still encouraged those who are worried or have developed symptoms to get tested.
Of the linked cases, five are related to the construction sites for the third runway at Chek Lap Kok. One of them is a worker there, while four are close contacts.
More than 20 preliminary cases were also recorded, including a staff at an elderly care home in Shek Kip Mei, where two residents had previously tested positive for the virus.
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About 100 residents and 70 staff at the care home had been moved to quarantine centers.
Chuang also reported that five newly arrived patients who tested positive for Covid-19 recently were found to carry the coronavirus mutation, known to spread more rapidly than the common strain.
Two of the patients flew in from
Meanwhile, another confirmed patient passed away at
Earlier, another 78-year-old male patient succumbed to the
illness at
A total of 723 confirmed patients are being treated at 23 public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld Expo. Among them, 30 are in critical condition, 31 in serious condition, and 662 in stable condition.
There are now a total of 10,512 coronavirus cases in the city.
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