Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says coronavirus situation 'very severe', announces new measures

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced new measures in the weekend to contain worsening coronavirus crisis in Hong Kong, with making masks mandatory in public places, ordering more work from home and ramping up quarantine facilities.

This comes after the city confirmed more than 100 new cases on Sunday.

As per South China Morning Post reports, Lam also warned that the city could be hit by another wave of infections in winter, just as health experts had feared.

"The situation is very severe and there are no signs this is getting under control," Lam said after viewing reports of mass testing conducted by the city government last week.

She added that some cities around the world had banned people from going out, but Hong Kong had not followed suit over the past six months or so because the government wanted citizens to still be able to live normally.

On facilities, Lam said 2,000 more quarantine units would be built near Hong Kong Disneyland and that AsiaWorld-Expo was being converted to accommodate stable Covid-19 patients and elderly residents in the event of further outbreaks at care homes.

The Hospital Authority would take over Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village, which is being used as a quarantine centre with 300 beds as of now for suspected cases.

From next Saturday, people entering Hong Kong from seven high-risk countries, including India and Pakistan, would be required to spend their 14-day quarantine at government-approved hotels before going to their own homes.

Between July 6 and Sunday, more than 40 per cent, or more than 220 of the 492 locally confirmed cases were of unknown sources.

For new imported cases, 15 were from the Philippines, including three seamen and 10 domestic workers. The rest were from countries including Pakistan, France and the United States.

( With inputs from ANI )