1,800 tests, no cases, as Mid-Levels lockdown eased

Officials began easing an overnight lockdown in Mid-Levels on Sunday morning after testing some 1,855 people for Covid-19, with no confirmed cases found.

People who could show an SMS with a negative test result or who were wearing a wristband indicating that they had been tested were allowed to leave shortly after 9am. Officials remained on the scene to check for anyone in the area who hadn’t been tested.

The lockdown covered blocks 1 and 2 of Robinson Place on Robinson Road, as well as phases 1 and 2 of Blessings Garden on Conduit Road and was ordered after a surge in cases in Central and Western District, most of them linked to the Ursus gym in Sai Ying Pun.

Officials have reminded anyone who spent more than two hours in the buildings between February 28 and Saturday that they must undergo tests, even if they were absent during the lockdown.

The government said workers visited 980 households in the area and received no answer at 150 of them, which could include vacant flats or the homes of people sent to quarantine or in hospital with Covid-19.

The ambush-style lockdown was imposed after the gym cluster grew to 99 confirmed cases on Saturday.

Compulsory testing orders were imposed for 64 buildings overnight, including thirteen in Sai Ying Pun where Covid-19 samples were found in sewage.