Tsing Yi Hotel To Be Used As Covid Holding Centre

The Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi will be used to house inbound travellers who have to wait for more than one day to get their Covid-19 test results, the SAR government announced on Sunday.

The Department of Health said the hotel will be used as the holding centre for test results starting from Monday, and it will be used by travellers whose test results will not be available on the same day – usually those arriving in the afternoon or at night.

Officials said passengers arriving in the afternoon could also be arranged to wait for their test results at the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre that has been set up within the airport's restricted area, after they collected their deep throat saliva samples there.

On Sunday, health authorities reported four new Covid-19 infections: two imported cases and two local ones that are linked to previous infections.

The Centre for Health Protection said one of the local cases involved a 60-year-old man who works at the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, after some staff and guests there tested positive for the virus.

The other local case, a 49-year-old woman, is an employee of Home of Treasure, the care home for disabled people in Kwai Chung at the centre of another recent outbreak. At least 18 residents and staff there have been infected with the coronavirus.

Both patients have shown symptoms, the centre added.

A 34-year-old man who came from the Netherlands and an 11-year-old girl who arrived from India accounted for the two imported cases. Neither showed any symptoms.

The latest cases brought the tally in Hong Kong to 5,241.

Meanwhile, about 100 people turned up at the temporary testing centre in Yau Ma Tei on Sunday afternoon on its last day of operation.

It's due to close at 8pm, the last among the four temporary centres that the government had set up to help more people get tested.

Some parents brought their children and helpers for Covid-19 tests. Some told RTHK that they hoped the testing centres could keep running so more people could benefit.

As for the proposed health code that would allow cross-border travels with Macau and the mainland, health minister Sophia Chan said the SAR government has completed its preparation work on the matter. But she said local officials still need to discuss with their Macau and mainland counterparts over when and under that kind of conditions the code can be implemented.

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