Four more guerrilla lockdowns

Four surprise lockdowns were sprung in 90 minutes last night just hours after Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung warned that guerrilla-style hits would be mounted at least once a day until February 10.

And mandatory tests will be ordered at buildings after just one untraceable Covid-19 case.

The first two lockdowns came at 7pm on the 55-unit Majestic House at 80 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and the 78-unit Ho Choi Building at 42-58 On Hing Street, Yuen Long, with police cordoning off the areas simultaneously.

The third lockdown was at 8pm, with 379 units in Blocks A to D of Loong King Mansion at 23-35 Ma Tau Wai Road in Hung Hom targeted.

Thirty minutes later came the fourth in Yau Ma Tei. There, 42-148 and 150-160 Reclamation Street, 59A to C on Public Square Street and 2A on Wing Sing Lane were in sights.

Thousands of residents in the areas had to take the Covid test by 2am today, with a target to confirm all results before unsealing the areas by 7am so people could head to work. Authorities did not explain why the buildings required lockdowns rather than just orders for mandatory tests.

Still, Ho Choi Building has seen a 51-year-old male resident linked to the third runway construction site cluster, which has racked up 15 cases.

Cheung also said in the afternoon that lockdowns will target old buildings that have had many cases or poor environmental hygiene including potential problems in pipes.

"For the coming 10 days, we expect to impose mandatory tests in at least one lockdown operation per day in different districts," he said.

Last night's lockdowns were the fifth to eighth in 10 days. Cheung described the previous four operations as effective despite not detecting any cases in two of them - at North Point's Tung Fat Building and Kwun Tong's Laguna City.

"Even if we have zero cases it's good news as it means an area has been cleared," Cheung said. "People living there can feel comfortable, safe and assured, which is very important."

He also said authorities and private laboratories have ramped up test capacities to 100,000 a day and are capable of handling daily lockdowns.

He said stringent measures to cut transmission chains before they spread include the mandatory test threshold on all buildings across the SAR, and every resident in a block will be issued with a compulsory test notice upon one unknown source infection or sewage samples showing up as positive.

Cheung also said all employees at workplaces - offices and construction sites, for instance - will be subjected to mandatory tests upon two cases being found.

He announced a two-layer contact tracing strategy. That would not only send close contacts into quarantine but family members living in a home must also get tested.

Hong Kong's Covid-19 situation remains serious, Cheung added, but authorities are stepping up tests to clamp down on cases and to be able to relax social distancing measures after the Lunar New Year holiday.

In the meantime, current measures including the two-person gathering cap, a dining-in ban after 6pm and closure of premises will remain in effect until February 17. But outdoor recreation venues for activities without physical contacts can reopen from Thursday so long as staffers undergo regular virus tests and record the names of attendees.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said he wanted to resume schools' face-to face classes for more grades after the Lunar New Year holiday.

He said he will meet with school staffs in the coming days to discuss arrangements including a protective gear reserve in schools, tests for teachers and contingency plans upon infections. Details could be announced later this week.

Starting last month, primary and secondary schools were allowed to have half-day, face-to-face classes for one grade, which Yeung said have been running smoothly.

But the chairman of the Democratic Party, Lo Kin-hei, criticized authorities for tightening the mandatory test threshold at buildings to what he saw as an unnecessarily strict level.

"Not only does it disrupt citizens' daily lives but it's also a waste of government reserves," he said. "The only beneficiaries are the testing companies."