Four lockdowns end with no positive tests

The SAR’s first overnight lockdown covering multiple sites came to an end on Tuesday morning with more than 1,700 people tested but no new cases of Covid-19 found.

Health officials and police moved in on Monday evening, sealing off blocks in Yuen Long, Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom, ordering residents to stay home except when undergoing tests at temporary centres.

The move came hours after Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung announced a ten-day series of aggressive activities to suppress Covid-19 ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, in the hope of reducing restrictions on businesses and reopening schools sooner.

Speaking on at RTHK programme on Tuesday, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said her mind had been put at ease by the fact no one had tested positive.

The lockdowns on Monday covered Majestic House, on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Ho Choi Building, on On Hing Street in Yuen Long, and Loong King Mansion at Ma Tau Wai Road in Hung Hom and a stretch of Reclamation Street in Yau Ma Tei.

Asked why these areas had been selected, particularly those in Yau Ma Tei, where no cases have been found in two weeks, Chan said the government considered a basket of factors and wanted to get ahead of any outbreaks.

On whether compensation would be offered to nighttime workers who missed shifts, Chan would only say that she felt the government was doing the right thing.

Restrictions were lifted at about 7.30am, with people allowed to leave for work as long as they could show a negative virus test.

Some Yau Ma Tei residents said they had still not received their results when they left for work.

At Tsim Sha Tsui, a woman said she had been forced to spend the night at a hair salon along with staff and other customers after the lockdown was implemented during her appointment. She said she understood the need for the lockdowns.