2,700 people are ordered to stay in their homes for five-day Covid lockdown in Hong Kong

Nearly 3,000 residents at a Hong Kong housing estate will be confined to their homes for five days, authorities announced Friday, as they struggle to halt an outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The lengthy lockdown order – reminiscent of those used on the Chinese mainland – comes as Hong Kong tacks harder to Beijing’s “zero-Covid” policy.

At least 20 confirmed or preliminary positive cases were found in a public housing block in the Kwai Chung neighbourhood, said health chief Sophia Chan.

 3,000 residents at a Hong Kong housing estate will be confined to their homes for five days, authorities said Friday

Health authorities confirm 24 new coronavirus cases citywide, 18 of which were locally transmitted

Hong Kong authorities will impose a five-day lockdown on 2,700 residents of a public housing block

The residents will be provided with food and other necessities, health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee said on Friday evening

officials returned to the trusted zero-Covid playbook that Hong Kong shares with mainland China

Hong Kong has reported around 300 cases of Omicron, most detected from overseas visitors during their quarantine

“Clearly there is a community outbreak and the situation is worrying,” Chan told reporters.

A security guard, cleaner and multiple residents living in non-adjacent flats have been infected, with the source thought to be a man who visited the building on January 13. 

 “These infection clusters involve superspreading and are of extremely high risk,” Chan added.

China brings back anal swab testing for Covid two weeks before Winter Olympics begin

China brought back anal swab testing to screen for Covid-19 in a bid to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, just two weeks before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin. 

At least 27 people underwent the controversial anal swab tests at an apartment building in Beijing where a 26-year-old woman had contracted Omicron, the city’s first recorded case of the variant, according to Chinese newspaper The Beijing News.

The anal tests involve inserting a sterile cotton swab up to two inches (5cm) into the rectum and rotating it several times. The swab is then removed before being analysed in a lab.

Beijing is in the midst of a strict lockdown and testing regime after the city reported its first local Omicron infection on January 15, and 11 cases have been confirmed in the capital as of Thursday afternoon, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Edwin Tsui, who heads the Centre for Health Protection, said the virus might have been spread by a cleaner who had to work floor by floor.

Some 2,700 residents will need to stay home until January 26 and be tested daily.

Like China, Hong Kong stamps out even the slightest trace of the virus with largely closed borders, contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and long quarantines.

Residents of Yat Kwai House on Kwai Chung Estate must be home quarantined for five days until Wednesday

The five-day “snap lockdown” is the longest ordered yet in the city. Previous building lockdowns have tended to be overnight with residents allowed to leave once they show a negative test.

Those who test positive are taken to isolation wards, while close contacts go to a government quarantine camp.

The Hong Kong government has said it will provide food and anti-epidemic supplies for affected residents.

But some people were spotted buying groceries in bulk on Friday afternoon, according to local media reports.

Hong Kong’s strict rules have kept the city largely virus-free but internationally isolated.

Already strict social-distancing rules were ramped up after an Omicron outbreak began last month.

Residents of Yat Kwai House at Kwai Chung Estate will need to be home quarantined for five days