CE Says There Will Be No 'complete Lockdown'

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday reiterated that the government has no plans for a complete lockdown to coincide with a mass Covid testing exercise set to take place this month.

Growing speculation of an imminent lockdown has sparked panic-buying at supermarkets, with Health Secretary Sophia Chan saying on Monday that a move to order people across the city to stay at home during the testing cannot be ruled out.

Lam said people are too caught up in the words used in discussions on the upcoming testing operation.

She stressed that the government is refining the plan, adding that it must do what is best for Hong Kong and its people.

"Whenever I've been asked about it, I have said we're not imposing a wholesale city lockdown. As we know in some places, imposing a lockdown means no entry and no exit. This won't be the case for Hong Kong," she said.

"But in terms of limiting the movement of individuals to a certain extent in order to reduce the flow of people, we've done this in the past, and we believe it's necessary when carrying out a mass testing exercise. However, as I've already said, the extent of this must take into account Hong Kong's actual circumstances, and people's needs."

As for what to do with infected people found during the mass testing scheme, the CE said it would be impossible to put everyone in community isolation facilities.

But more isolation facilities are coming into operation soon, she added, including one in San Tin.

The site is among those Beijing is helping to build amid the fifth wave of Covid infections in Hong Kong.

The first one, in Tsing Yi, began admitting Covid patients with no or mild symptoms on Tuesday evening.

As of Wednesday morning, around 10 people were staying at the new isolation facility which has almost 4,000 beds.

While the arrangements at the site are more or less the same as those at other quarantine facilities, people staying there are allowed to leave their rooms, though they must be masked and stay within a designated zone.