Hong Kong lockdown: residents of Lam Tin housing estate begin leaving as overnight operation uncovers no Covid-19 cases
- Operation involving blocks 5 and 7 of the middle class Laguna City estate tested 460 residents, though the occupants of 60 flats could not be reached
- City’s No 2 official had earlier said a zero-infection target meant more districts could face testing of ‘varying scales’
Residents of the two affected blocks of the middle-class Laguna City estate were allowed to leave at 7.30am provided they held negative test results.
While the lockdown had not yet been completely lifted, health authorities said in a statement that 460 residents had been tested, and occupants of 60 households could not be reached.
The Sunday evening operation, which encompassed 432 units, came just hours after officials hinted they had not ruled out subjecting more districts to mandatory coronavirus testing schemes in coming days.
The government announced at 7pm that lockdown measures had been imposed on blocks 5 and 7 of Laguna City, after a run of infections in the two buildings. The lockdown, the fourth in the space of about a week, was launched on a day 53 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed citywide.
“From January 18 to 29, a total of 15 confirmed cases were recorded in blocks 5 and 7,” a government spokesman said. “After risk assessment, we believe there is a need to … ensure all people in the restricted area are tested mandatorily as a way to cut transmission chains in the area and dispel worries of residents there.”