Coronavirus: Hong Kong to test more than 7,000 inmates after two detainees among 21 new cases
- Four facilities will have to place their populations into quarantine following the discovery, senior health official says
- Frontline health workers and other at-risk groups to be among first to receive a vaccine once available, government adviser reveals
Hong Kong will test more than 7,000 inmates for the coronavirus after two detainees were among 21 new cases confirmed on Sunday, undertaking a complex logistical challenge that will require quarantining at four facilities where the men stayed.
The pledge came as a leading health adviser said the government had placed enough orders with the Covid-19 vaccine programme managed by the World Health Organisation to cover about a third of the city’s population, with high-risk groups to receive the first doses.
Five of the latest cases were discovered through the government-led mass screening effort, which has tested 864,000 people and drawn 1.08 million residents to register. But separately two inmates were revealed as carrying the coronavirus, raising the risk of the disease spreading through prisons.
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“We are very worried about the situation as prisoners are in relatively cramped conditions, so we have contacted the Security Bureau and will test more than 7,000 inmates in Hong Kong,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch.
Under the current policy, all new inmates are isolated for 21 days before being placed in cells.
The four affected facilities are Pik Uk Prison in Sai Kung, Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre and Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre. Chuang said all inmates would have to be quarantined on site, or if that proved unfeasible, moved to other correctional institutions for isolation.
The question of whether to test the entire prison population gained greater immediacy last month after a Thai national who had overstayed his visa was confirmed positive at the Castle Peak Bay facility. The government responded with plans to screen 500 staff and detainees, but Chuang said at the time officials were worried about a further spread of the virus, pointing to outbreaks in prisons overseas.