Residents under lockdown worry about cross-infections

Concerns were raised on Tuesday over cross-infection risks at a public housing estate in Kwai Chung which has seen over 200 Covid cases, as residents complained about testing arrangements and hygiene conditions.

The government has announced that the original five-day lockdown of Yat Kwai House, which is at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, will be extended by another two days until Friday.

Kwai Tsing district councillor Leung Chi-sing told an RTHK programme that residents are desperate to be allowed out.

“They want freedom as soon as possible and to resume normal lives. There’s no end in sight as new cases keep emerging,” he said.

Leung urged the government to improve testing and meal arrangements, which he described as chaotic.

He cited some residents as saying that meal boxes were put outside their homes while they were out getting tested.

A resident of Yat Kwai House, surnamed Wong, called into the programme and said he had tested preliminary positive for the virus after four days of negative results.

He said the testing arrangements in place could be leading to cross-infections among residents.

“Staff knocked on our doors and told us to go and get tested. Residents flocked to the testing stations downstairs. It’s very crowded inside the lifts and at the lobby. Cross-infection and airborne transmission of the virus could happen there,” he said.

He noted that in one case, an elderly resident went for his daily test and only found out he had already tested preliminary positive for the virus when staff checked his records.

Wong said other residents are worried they might be infected as they had waited in the same area as the elderly man.