Hotline To Be Set Up For Reporting Quarantine Cheats

The government says it is setting up a hotline for members of the public to report anybody beaching quarantine orders, as reports emerge of scores of people flouting the rules despite growing concerns over Covid-19 outbreaks in the city.

A video circulating online shows one alleged offender, a 13-year-old girl, wearing a quarantine wristband as she eats in a restaurant.

Police said they received a report about the girl at 10pm on Monday. The restaurant was in the Sha Tin hotel where the teenager was staying, but she should have been confined to her room. Following the alleged breach, the girl was taken to a quarantine centre in Fo Tan.

Police also caught a man who allegedly breached quarantine rules by going for a meal at a restaurant in Tsuen Wan. He was taken to hospital by ambulance after temperature checks revealed he had a fever.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that it’s disappointing and distressing to see so many people are ignoring the quarantine orders.

She said such people are being irresponsible, adding that the government will step up checks and prosecutions. Lam added that a hotline for reporting offenders will go into operation soon.

One caller to an RTHK programme suggested that the government should just advise people to contact the police directly if they see anyone failing to isolate themselves as instructed.

The caller, surnamed So, said he saw two people wearing quarantine wristbands at a restaurant in Tsueng Kwan O and he called 999. But he said he was told by police to instead phone the Centre for Health Protection or Home Affairs Department.

"They were already leaving the restaurant. The Centre for Health Protection hotline told me to leave a voice message. The Home Affairs Department officer said he would record my report. All these numbers are useless. The most direct way is to call 999 because it’s most practical for police officers to come and handle the matter immediately,” So said.