Covid-19 lockdowns not a waste of resources, says Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam
HONG KONG – The four lockdowns in certain places in Kowloon and the New Territories overnight did not lead to the detection of any confirmed coronavirus case but the city’s leader on Tuesday (Feb 2) dismissed criticisms that they were a waste of time and money.
Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the operations, which also involved compulsory Covid-19 testing, on Monday night were “kept secret, focused and shortened”.
The locations were determined by the Food and Health Secretary.
She added that the effectiveness of a lockdown cannot be measured by the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases found.
“Every time we choose to seal off an area for tests, the decision is based on science.
“In the field of public health, success is not defined by curing a disease but to prevent the disease from happening in the first place, especially infectious diseases, so a lot of the work is prevention so as to get ahead of transmissions,” said Mrs Lam.
In a statement issued Tuesday, shortly after Mrs Lam’s comments, the government said it may resort to legal action if people are present in the household but refuse to answer the door.
Among other things, it can apply to a magistrate for a warrant to break into and forcefully enter a unit, to remove individuals who refuse to cooperate.
The government on Monday night imposed restrictions in some areas, sealing off some buildings and parts of Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui, Yuen Long and Hung Hom.
The lockdowns were lifted at 7.30am on Tuesday after about 1,700 people were tested in the operations. No confirmed case was found.
Dozens of households approached by government staff did not answer the door and the government in a statement urged the residents to comply with the compulsory testing order.
The operations came hours after Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung announced a 10-day series of aggressive action to curb the pandemic ahead of the Chinese New Year festivities, as pressure mounts on the government to ease restrictions on businesses and schools.
Mr Cheung said the government had further lowered the threshold for compulsory testing for buildings.
From Feb 1, if one or more new confirmed cases with unknown sources are found in developments, or if sewage samples test positive for Covid-19, the buildings would be included in the compulsory testing notice.
If two or more confirmed cases are found in the workplace, Mr Cheung said these places will also be included in the compulsory testing notice.
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan on Tuesday issued a compulsory testing notice requiring those who work at the airport to be tested. Close to 70,000 individuals are expected to participate in this exercise.
In a separate statement, the government said it has appointed the Airport Authority Hong Kong to implement the testing schemes, which include a one-off compulsory test for airport staff and voluntary regular tests for specified frontline staff.
The free voluntary testing scheme for all airport staff, introduced in May 2020, will also continue.
Hong Kong on Monday added 34 confirmed cases, bringing the total to 10,486 and 182 deaths.
In the past two weeks, the city added 895 cases of which 847 were local and 340 were from unknown sources.
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