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Coronavirus Hong Kong
Hong KongHealth & Environment

Hong Kong university students told to quit dormitories as surging Covid-19 cases prompt new measures to keep campuses safe

  • Chinese University wants dormitory residents to leave by Sunday, but non-local students can remain
  • Education University says it allowed occupants to leave after learning of infections at student accommodation

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Students at Chinese University have been asked to move out of their dormitories as part of campus health measures against the coronavirus. Photo: Dickson Lee
Ng Kang-chungandKathleen Magramo
Hong Kong university students were caught by surprise when at least five institutions told dormitory residents to return home, or would ask them to do so, as a precaution amid a surge in the number of local coronavirus cases.

Chinese University (CUHK) told occupants of its student residences to leave by Sunday, while Polytechnic University (PolyU), Baptist University and City University (CityU) said they also had plans to “encourage” residents to leave.

A spokesman for Education University (EdU) said it had received reports of confirmed Covid-19 cases involving dormitory residents, with occupants given the option to leave from Thursday.

But CUHK’s announcement on Tuesday was a shock, said a 19-year-old first-year foreign student who declined to be named.

“Every non-local student was panicking because we really had nowhere else to go,” he said.

The university has since clarified that those unable to leave would be allowed to remain at their student halls of residence.

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