HONG KONG (AP) – Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked in their homes on Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worse coronavirus outbreak in the city.
Authorities said in a statement that an area with 16 buildings in the city’s Yau Tsim Mong district would be closed until all residents were tested. Residents may not leave their homes until they have received their test results to prevent cross-contamination.
“Persons who are subject to compulsory tests are required to remain in their premises until all the persons identified in the area have been tested and the test results have mostly been determined,” the government statement said.
The government is expected to end within 48 hours on the restrictions, which were announced in Hong Kong at 4 p.m.
Hong Kong has been struggling since November to contain a fresh wave of the coronavirus. More than 4,300 cases have been recorded in the past two months, accounting for nearly 40% of the city’s total.
Coronavirus cases in the Yau Tsim Mong district represent about half of the infections in the past week.
About 3,000 people in Yau Tsim Mong have so far, according to the Hong Kong government, taken coronavirus tests and joined the thousands of other people in the busy city of 7.5 million who have been tested in recent days.
Police guarded access points to the working-class neighborhood of old buildings and subdivided apartments and arrested a 47-year-old man after he allegedly attacked an officer. The man apparently said that he should be tested after entering the restricted area and that he was not allowed to leave until he could show a negative test result.
Sewage tests in the area have picked up more concentrated traces of the virus, raising concerns that poorly constructed plumbing systems and a lack of ventilation in subdivided units could potentially provide the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong had previously avoided closures in the city during the pandemic, with leader Carrie Lam declaring in July last year that authorities would avoid such “extreme measures” unless they had no other choice.
The government has called on employers to exercise discretion and prevent them from paying the salaries of employees who are affected by the new restrictions and may not be able to go to work.
Hong Kong spotted a total of 9,929 infections in the city, with 168 deaths recorded on Friday.