Hopes for the border reopening of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) with the Chinese mainland around the Spring Festival have been dashed, experts said on Sunday, after the city reported 140 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including 104 cases related to the Kwai Chung Estate outbreak.
Hong Kong authorities have placed a public housing block under a three-day restriction order for more than 2,500 residents to undergo daily Covid-19 testing, after a suspected Omicron superspreader was believed to have infected 16 others in the building. The order, which takes effect on Friday, was issued after top microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung inspected Kwai Chung Estate’s Yat Kwai.
‘I think the residents should not be allowed to leave for work,’ Professor David Hui says. ‘We cannot rule out the possibility that some residents may test negative today, but test positive the day after’.