Hong Kong fourth wave: health officials warn of spike in untraceable coronavirus infections as 112 new cases confirmed
- Health undersecretary Dr Chui Tak-yi says local situation has been severe over past two weeks and invisible transmission links have not decreased
- Under temporary measures, everyone in a building will have to be tested for Covid-19 if four or more residents who do not know each other are infected
Officials also revealed their temporary threshold for mandatory testing – if four or more residents in a building are infected and do not know each other, the government will require everyone in the block to get screened for Covid-19.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, told a press briefing on Thursday that the standard was applied to Richland Gardens and Kam Fung Court where compulsory testing orders were issued, but admitted it took time for authorities to check whether infected patients had contact with each other.
“The odds of having four in one building, that may signify something. If the situation becomes more severe, maybe that threshold will change,” Chuang said, adding the standard would be subject to risk assessment and other factors.
Everyone living in D flats in Block 6 were evacuated, and the building’s 900 residents as well as some in blocks 4 and 18 were put under mandatory testing.
