Parents Call For School Closures Over Virus Cluster

Parents with children at schools near a housing estate at the centre of Hong Kong's latest cluster of Covid-19 infections want all classes to remain suspended to prevent further community transmissions, a local councillor said on Friday.

Jimmy Sham, who represents the area, said there are at least six primary and secondary schools near the Lek Yuen Estate, where seven people have been confirmed to have the virus since the weekend.

On an RTHK radio programme, Sham also said that residents are worried about staying in their homes on the estate as they don't think sufficient measures have been put in place to ensure their safety.

Dozens of people from certain units have been moved to quarantine centres. But Sham says the evacuation instructions have not been clear, and no information was left for residents who weren't home when the authorities came round on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong University microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung said the authorities should not just have evacuated those living in flats ending in numbers 10 and 12, but everyone on the eighth floor of Luk Chuen House.

The first person diagnosed with Covid-19 as part of the cluster lives on the eighth floor of the block.

Authorities said at a press briefing on Thursday that they were unable to get in touch with six families from the building in order to give them coronavirus tests.

Ho said the police should be called to help find these people.