Seal Construction Sites With Outbreaks: Experts

Infectious disease experts are urging the government to lock down construction sites for mass coronavirus tests if there are any outbreaks.

Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme on Tuesday, Dr Joseph Tsang with the Medical Association said construction sites are prone to spreading the coronavirus, and the government will not be able to cut the chains of transmission early if it just cordons off residential buildings for testing, because workers may have already brought the virus into the community.

He also said the government should consider conducting compulsory testing at all construction sites.

His view was echoed by another expert, Ho Pak-leung, who heads the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Infection.

"The government can seal off construction sites and test the workers exposed to the virus in 12 hours during daytime. I think it's more effective in intercepting the virus before they are spread into buildings in the community," he told an RTHK programme.

Ho believed that the Covid outbreaks at two tunnel construction sites led to a rebound of cases in January, as some of the workers live in densely populated districts such as Yau Ma Tei and Sham Shui Po.

The expert also said he believed some of the lockdown exercises overnight were related to an outbreak at the airport's third runway construction sites or buildings with cases that were untraceable.

"If they focus on high-risk buildings... and impose an lockdown in these neighbourhoods, I think this strategy is more practical," Ho said, adding the government doesn't have the manpower to seal off dozens of buildings every day.

Ho also said if the community lockdowns were to be effective, residents should be given a second test five days later, to uncover cases that were in the incubation period.