New powers allow Hong Kong government to lock down coronavirus hotspots
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam adopts powerful new tool to combat an escalating fourth wave of the virus and urges residents to stay home as much as possible
- Authorities tighten social-distancing restrictions, with restaurants to end dine-in service at 6pm and gyms to close, as 100 new cases confirmed
A new law has empowered Hong Kong authorities to lock down parts of the city hit by Covid-19 for up to seven days, while restaurants will stop offering dine-in services at night and gyms and beauty parlours will close from Thursday to combat a worsening fourth wave of the pandemic.
Of the new confirmed cases, 95 were locally transmitted and 27 were untraceable. About 70 preliminary cases were also recorded.
02:02
Fourth wave of coronavirus cases in Hong Kong prompts tougher Covid-19 measures
“There used to be a thinking that youngsters who got infected would be fine. But this time, the perception has to be changed too. The situation is very worrying,” Lam said.
“All citizens, unless it’s necessary otherwise, should stay home, even for work. Whether it’s for yourself, your family or society, it is necessary to stay home during this period of time to stop all the social activities.”