Hong Kong fourth wave: evacuation ordered at fifth housing block as vertical coronavirus transmission feared
- Professor Yuen Kwok-yung inspects sewage system design of Yan Shek House at Shek Yam Estate, where six residents have been infected
- Ageing tenements in Jordan, meanwhile, cleared of last occupants, who are sent to quarantine as officials move in to investigate cluster
The latest evacuation, of Yan Shek House in Shek Yam Estate, was launched after six residents from three flats facing the same direction tested positive for the virus. Overall, the city recorded 29 new cases on Thursday, the fewest since January 6, when 25 infections were logged.
Since the start of the fourth wave of infections, at least three other residential buildings have been hit by a similar transmission route, which triggered evacuations and the quarantine of residents.
The evacuation in Kwai Chung was announced after a leading government pandemic adviser, Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, inspected the sewage system of Yan Shek House, where four people from one home and another resident from a different flat were confirmed infected.
Another resident from a third flat tested preliminary-positive for the virus.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), said all three flats were numbered 9.