Hong Kong lifts neighbourhood lockdown early after most residents tested for coronavirus; 76 new cases emerge
- The mandatory screening in Jordan uncovered 13 cases, which the health minister says falls in line with broader patterns
- Workers visited 3,650 flats and despite no one answering the door at 470 of them, government confident the controversial effort was extensive and the right move
Some people had earlier been allowed to leave the restricted zone in the Jordan neighbourhood of the Yau Tsim Mong district after testing negative for the virus, and police barriers erected around the area were taken down not long after midnight, several hours earlier than planned.
Health workers using mobile testing labs uncovered 13 infections after screening more than 7,000 people since early Saturday. Those cases were not among the 76 new ones confirmed across the city, all but four of which were locally transmitted and 27 untraceable.
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Hong Kong coronavirus lockdown: 10,000 people confined as police cordon off part of Yau Tsim Mong
The health minister defended the need for the lockdown and dismissed concerns it was an undue hardship on residents given the number of carriers identified, who would be included in Monday’s caseload.
“The positive rate is 0.17 per cent,” Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said. “In fact, if you look at the government testing strategy, which includes compulsory testing, target group testing plus voluntary testing, the overall positive rate is also 0.17 per cent, so it is similar.”
By restricting the movement of residents as screening was carried out, authorities were able to quickly find infected people and isolate them, as well their close contacts, Chan insisted.
“We don’t think this put a heavy burden on people or was a waste of public money,” she said. “This operation was needed.”
