'Govt Should Do More To Inform Minorities Of Tests'

Yau Tsim Mong district councillors on Friday said the government needs to do better in communicating with ethnic minority residents in Yau Ma Tei and Jordan who have been ordered to get Covid tests amid a rising number of cases in the area.

Thousands of residents of 20 blocks in an area bordered by Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Kansu Street and Ferry Street have been told to get tested by Monday, either at a mobile testing station at Kwun Chung Sports Centre, or in government testing vans.

The mandatory order affects anyone who lives in a building with even one confirmed Covid-19 infection.

Health secretary Sophia Chan has explained that the measure is needed because hygiene conditions in the densely-populated area are relatively poor – increasing the risk of transmission.

She said officers who can speak Nepalese, Urdu and other languages will visit the buildings and offer support for people from ethnic minority communities.

But the president of the Hong Kong Nepalese Federation, Rana Ray, said notices put up by officials informing residents about the mandatory tests are all in Chinese –and many residents can't read them.

He said community leaders want to work with the government to help spread the word – and better educate people on how they can best protect themselves.

“The area where the Covid-19 outbreak happened, most of the families there still don't have the awareness,” he said. “We should have to educate the people in our community first…. and we can [explain to them] what the mandatory test system is.”

A young resident in the area welcomes the mandatory tests, saying he believes it will help curb the outbreak. But he says the government should also do more to address hygiene problems in the area.

"You will see people spitting on the floor, cigarette butts on the floor, alcohol bottles and even sometimes a few drug, heroin needles and stuff like that. The government should really be looking into these things," he said.

A group of Yau Tsim Mong district councillors, meanwhile, said the government should do more to inspect drainage pipes in the area. Councillor Owan Li suggested that the authorities could even take the initiative to clean up some of the buildings.

"The Department of Health should have the strong cooperation with the Home Affairs Department. and ensure that for those buildings with no management companies, they can take care of them and make sure they would not have another community disaster," he said.

Health authorities have said more than 80 Covid infections had been recorded in the Yau Tsim Mong district in the past two weeks, with an outbreak involving more than 20 residents at an old tenement building on Reclamation Street.