Health officials lock down building in Tai Kok Tsui

Health officials on Saturday ordered compulsory Covid tests for residents of Towers 1, 2 and 3 of Hampton Place in Tai Kok Tsui, and predicted that the testing would be finished by 8am on Sunday.

In a statement, a government spokesman said a preliminary positive imported case had been detected on Saturday, and the preliminary test indicated a mutant strain with a higher infection risk.

Health officials are setting up temporary specimen collection stations and asked those people affected by the compulsory testing order to get tested before 1am on Sunday.

“We understand that this exercise will cause inconvenience to the public. The Government has made arrangements to carry out testing for all persons present in the ‘restricted area’ as soon as possible. The aim is to strive to complete testing of all identified persons subject to compulsory testing and confirm the results, and finish the exercise at around 8am tomorrow,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman urged employers not to penalise any staff who were unable to go to work because of the compulsory testing order.

Health officials said anyone living in the same premises as the confirmed local case would also have to be tested on the third, seventh, twelfth and nineteenth day from when the case last stayed there.