Coronavirus: daughter of US consulate couple tests positive, prompting school to close; residential buildings locked down after 11 new Covid-19 cases

Some Woodland Montessori Academy teachers and children to be quarantined after infant at preschool is confirmed as being infected

Residents of buildings in Sai Ying Pun and Causeway Bay must undergo compulsory testing for virus

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Residents in Sai Ying Pun are screened for Covid-19 at a mobile testing centre on Wednesday night. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Kathleen Magramo,Elizabeth CheungandGigi Choy

Published: 12:45pm, 17 Mar 2021Updated: 8:37am, 18 Mar 2021

The three-year-old daughter of two US consulate employees in Hong Kong was among the city’s 11 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, prompting her preschool to shut and leaving some staff and children facing quarantine.

Lockdown orders were issued for four blocks in Sai Ying Pun and Causeway Bay on Wednesday night, after some residents were infected with the coronavirus. Officials expected the compulsory testing operation to be finished by the following morning.

Earlier in the day, banking giant HSBC closed its iconic Hong Kong headquarters until further notice amid a growing number of infections among its staff, while health authorities formally extended current social-distancing rules until the end of March.

HSBC announced the temporary closure of its headquarters on Wednesday after three staff members contracted Covid-19. Photo: Sam Tsang

Separately, education authorities said about 400 secondary schools that expected to hold university entrance exams next month would suspend in-person classes between April 26 and May 3.

The move would free up space for the more than 40,000 candidates due to take exams in core subjects for the Diploma of Secondary Education, lowering the risk of infection and helping with social distancing.

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