Omicron: residents raise stink as rubbish piles up at Hong Kong estate hit by escalating Covid-19 outbreak
- Social media and messaging groups are flooded with residents’ gripes about arrangements at Omicron-hit Kwai Chung Estate
- Complaints range from trash problems and unresponsive government hotlines to confusion about coronavirus testing locations
Mounting piles of garbage bags in lift lobbies were among complaints of residents locked down for five days at a coronavirus-stricken Hong Kong public housing estate, with some raising concerns about hygiene and saying the issue also exposed weak links in district governance.
Social media and messaging groups were flooded on Sunday with residents’ complaints about arrangements at the Omicron-hit Kwai Chung Estate, ranging from trash problems and unresponsive government hotlines to confusion about coronavirus testing locations.
Five-day lockdowns have been imposed on two blocks, Yat Kwai House and Ying Kwai House, with residents to undergo daily testing. Four buildings were closed off overnight on Saturday evening while the other 10 were given mandatory testing orders.
Some residents told the Post they were frustrated by a lack of channels to convey their immediate needs to the authorities as their two elected district council members from the opposition bloc were either behind bars or had resigned. On top of that, core voluntary members of the estate’s mutual aid committees had become inactive ahead of a government-ordered disbandment in six months.
“It’s gross and starting to smell bad,” said a retired 51-year-old female resident named Chang, who showed photos of dozens of garbage bags piling up in the lift lobby of Yat Kwai House.
“Hotlines provided by the government and lawmakers have failed me. I just don’t know what else I can do.”
The estate’s 40 cleaners were sent to the government’s quarantine camp in Penny’s Bay on Saturday as health officials suspected they were a source of transmission for the coronavirus.
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Coronavirus: ‘exponential’ outbreak of Omicron triggers lockdowns in Hong Kong housing blocks
On the estate, long queues formed at testing stations on Sunday, prompting some to set up Telegram and Facebook chat groups to organise screening in batches among themselves.