Coronavirus: Hong Kong resumes lockdowns after Lunar New Year break as site cordoned off in San Po Kong

Residents taken by surprise when authorities cordon off Tong Seng Mansion and Cambridge Building on Kam Wing Street at 8.30pm for mandatory testing

Up to 70,000 people register for Covid-19 jabs on the first day of the city’s mass vaccination drive opening, fully booking slots for two weeks

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San Po Kong was the scene of the latest lockdown. Photo: May Tse

Published: 10:30am, 23 Feb 2021Updated: 12:37am, 24 Feb 2021

Hong Kong officials sprang another “ambush-style” Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday evening after a 13-day break following Lunar New Year, while 12 new infections were confirmed citywide.

The day also saw up to 70,000 residents registering for Covid-19 jabs on the first day of the city’s mass vaccination drive opening, fully booking available slots for two weeks from the coming Friday.

In a separate development, the Executive Council approved a plan to raise the cap on public gatherings from two people to four, which will take effect at midnight on Tuesday.

The Food and Health Bureau had earlier said it planned to relax the rule on March 3. A number of social-distancing curbs were loosened last week amid an easing of the epidemic.

Residents of San Po Kong, meanwhile, were taken by surprise when authorities cordoned off Tong Seng Mansion and Cambridge Building on Kam Wing Street at 8.30pm for mandatory testing.

The lockdown was expected to end at 7am on Wednesday, and those in the area were told to stay in their homes until all of them had been tested for Covid-19 and most of the results were ascertained.

A government spokesman said the lockdown was necessary following the recent confirmation of a Covid-19 case in Cambridge Building, adding that subdivided units were common in the two premises in question.