Hong Kong will order the first blockade in the Kowloon area, Media says

Photographer: Anthony Kwan / Getty Images

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

Closing is expected to begin this weekend in Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon’s central urban district, according to the South China Morning Post and HK01. It covers a mandatory testing area where older buildings and subdivided flats populated by lower-income families are common.

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

The Hang Seng benchmark it fell to 1.7% after Friday’s report.

According to the SCMP report, residents who show negative Covid-19 test results will only be allowed to leave the blocking zone, which specifies that exemptions will be allowed for those who need a medical consultation or face physical damage.

HK01 said each building would be guarded by government personnel to ensure people leaving the building have a negative test result. They will also send officials to each floor to make sure residents have taken a test.

The reported measures are pale in comparison to the blockades adopted in mainland China, where a harsh approach prohibits the exit of cities, districts or even their apartment complexes. But it is the most severe step Hong Kong has taken to control the pathogen, and a blow to the government’s approach to trying to keep the economy largely afloat during the pandemic.

Oriented lock

Hong Kong closes Yau Tsim Mong, one of the city’s densest neighborhoods in the Kowloon district

Sources: GovHK, Food and Health Office

Despite almost two months of social distancing, the infection curve of the former British colony has increased again, as colder weather and faster-spreading variants pose a greater threat.

The increase in cases, while much less dramatic compared to global cities such as London and New York, has spurred the government to impose restrictions such as the closure of schools and some businesses. But so far he has been reluctant to take stricter measures such as closures, out of concern that they might ignite a crisis in a city that has already been shaken by protests.

City near Beijing blocked, millions of people tested as the outbreak grows

Even a limited closure in Hong Kong would introduce strong restrictions on movement in the heavily 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 of the affected areas of Kowloon to live in spaces large enough for just one bed, with kitchen and communal services.

The gated neighborhood is in a lower-income Kowloon neighborhood, though the density of the city means it’s within walking distance of bright skyscrapers like the International Commerce Center, home to Morgan Stanley offices and Credit Suisse Group AG.

The closure will only be lifted when the government is satisfied that all have been tested in the area, according to the SCMP report.

Leung Chi-chiu, former chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association’s communicable disease advisory committee, said the stricter measures make no sense because cases are already found outside the designated areas. Propagation will continue through cross-transmission within families and through multiple incubation periods, Leung said.

The stricter measures come as Hong Kong launches its vaccine program, which could help calm anxious residents that inoculation efforts are starting earlier in mainland China and rival Singapore’s financial center. The government is expected to grant emergency approval for the firing of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shortly after its expert group recommended the green light last week.

Hong Kong has recorded 167 deaths from Covid-19, still about half the toll inflicted on the city by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS pandemic (2003), which killed nearly 300 people in the early 2000s.

The strongest restrictions also reach the neighboring city of Macau reported the first case imported since June.

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

(Updates everywhere)