Hong Kong to call for first blockade in Kowloon area, media says

Photographer: Anthony Kwan / Getty Images

Hong Kong, for the first time, will block tens of thousands of residents in an attempt to contain an outbreak of worsening coronavirus, local media reported Friday, citing unidentified people.

The blockade is expected to begin this weekend in Yau Tsim Mong, the central urban district of Kowloon, the South China Morning Post and HK01 said. It covers a mandatory testing area where old buildings and subdivided apartments inhabited by low-income families are common.

The SCMP previously indicated that parts of Sham Shui Po would also be blocked, but later updated to say that the district would not be affected.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell by 1.7% after Friday’s report.

Only residents who report negative results on the Covid-19 test will be allowed to leave the lockout area, according to the SCMP report, specifying that exemptions will be allowed for those who need to see a doctor or face any physical damage.

HK01 said that each building would be guarded by government officials to ensure that people leaving the building had a negative test result. They will also send police officers to each apartment to ensure that residents have been tested.

The reported measures pale in comparison to the blockades adopted in mainland China, where a hard-line approach prohibits people from leaving cities, districts or even their apartment complexes. But it is the most severe measure Hong Kong has taken to control the pathogen and a blow to the government’s approach of trying to maintain the economy largely during the pandemic.

Targeted blocking

Hong Kong will surround Yau Tsim Mong, one of the densest neighborhoods in the city in Kowloon district

Sources: GovHK, Food and Health Bureau

Despite almost two months of social distance, the infection curve of the former British colony has increased again, as the colder climate and the more rapidly spreading variants pose a greater threat.

The increase in cases, although much less dramatic compared to global cities like London and New York, spurred the government to put restrictions in place, such as school closings and some businesses. But so far it has been reluctant to adopt more rigid measures, such as blockades, for concern that they might unleashes a crisis in a city that has already been shaken by protests.

City near Beijing is blocked, millions are tested as the epidemic grows

Even a limited blockade in Hong Kong would introduce heavy movement restrictions in the highly populated city, with some of the smallest living spaces in the world – the average apartment is about 500 square feet. It is not uncommon for the poorest residents in the affected areas of Kowloon to live in spaces large enough for just one bed, with a kitchen and communal bathrooms.

The gated neighborhood is located in an older, lower-income neighborhood in Kowloon, although the city’s density means it is just steps away from sparkling skyscrapers like the International Trade Center, where Morgan Stanley and Credit offices Suisse Group AG are located.

The blockade will only be lifted when the government is satisfied that everyone has been tested in the area, said the SCMP report.

Leung Chi-chiu, former chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases, said the stricter measures are meaningless because cases are already being found outside the designated areas. The spread will continue through cross-transmission within families and through various incubation periods, Leung said.

The stricter measures come when Hong Kong is about to launch its vaccine program, which may help to calm anxious residents, as vaccination efforts begin earlier in mainland China and Singapore’s rival financial center. The government is expected to grant emergency approval for the filming of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shortly after its panel of experts recommended the go-ahead last week.

Hong Kong saw 167 deaths from Covid-19 – still almost half the number of victims inflicted on the city by the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, a pandemic, which killed almost 300 people in the early 2000s.

The heaviest restrictions also come from neighboring Macau reported the first imported case since June.

– With the help of Felix Tam, Pablo Robles, Dominic Lau, Alfred Liu, Natalie Lung and Justin Chin

(Updates across)