23,000 confirmed cases in the fifth wave

The fifth wave of the epidemic continues to be severe, and every district has a daily encirclement and forced inspection.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at a press conference today (20th) that since the fifth wave of the epidemic, more than 250 people have been quarantined and 350,000 residents have been tested. It is 2 to 3% in Hong Kong. She stressed that actions are goal-oriented and "not aimless". Except for those who have been diagnosed in the fifth wave of the epidemic, all citizens in designated restricted areas need to be tested, and positive cases will be investigated. She was sent to a community isolation facility and hoped for the cooperation of the public. "I know from home that it takes an average of 4 days to enter the facility." She pointed out that the management and service of community isolation in the facility will be strengthened, and she hopes that the public will follow the arrangements of the authorities.

When asked about the frequent actions to block and forcibly enforce inspections, and the accumulation of grievances among civil servants, she emphasized that she has not received relevant feedback, more than 30 departments are united, and many colleagues are eager to participate.

▼On March 19th, Jianxi Building in Jianming Village was closed for inspection▼

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A total of more than 250 times, 350,000 people have been tested

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that the forced quarantine was not only carried out in the fifth wave of the epidemic, but was first seen in the encirclement of the Jordan community.

She mentioned that since the fifth wave of the epidemic, more than 250 people have been quarantined, and 350,000 residents have been inspected, and more than 23,000 cases have been found in the Chinese Communist Party. At present, more than 1 million people have been diagnosed, and the confirmed rate of quarantine and forced inspection has reached 2 To 3%, she does not agree that it is useless, because if it is not identified early, it may cause wider spread.

Lam continued to point out that there are several steps to complete the enclosure as soon as possible to reduce inconvenience to the public, including taking samples quickly and in an orderly manner, returning the test samples to the contractor as soon as possible and notifying residents of the results.

She pointed out that out of the more than 250 siege operations, only 17 times the siege time was more than one day, of which Yak Kwai House in Kwai Chung Estate was the longest, and about 150 to 450 civil servants participated in each mobilization, depending on the number of residents.

As for who needs to undergo mandatory testing in the enclosed area?

She pointed out that in the initial stage, all positive cases were required to undergo compulsory testing, but as the number of infected people in Hong Kong continues to increase, if the fifth wave of the epidemic, i.e. those who have been diagnosed since December 31 last year, do not need to undergo compulsory testing, because after recovery There will be no further transmission in the next 3 months; as for those who have been vaccinated, who have undergone nucleic acid or rapid testing, they still need to undergo intensive quarantine.

She continued that the initial positive cases will be sent to community isolation facilities, and hope that the public will cooperate, because it can avoid infecting family members, and it is also good for everyone. He emphasized that the management and services of community isolation in facilities will be strengthened, and hope that the public will follow the arrangements of the authorities.

Huang Jinxing: 10% of hidden patients were identified by sewage testing

Lin Zheng also said that the enclosure and strong inspection are goal-oriented, "not aimless", and the amount of sewage inspection is a commonly used indicator.

Huang Jinxing, director of the Environment Bureau, added that through big data, if there are many confirmed cases in the building or the sewage is at high risk, the building will be closed and forced to inspect. Since January 27, the authorities have carried out 180 sewage inspections, with more than 240,000, and 23,000 hidden patients were found, accounting for about 10%. The proportion of individual housing estates, including Shuntian Village, was more than 20%, and the proportion of Tianyao Building was higher than 30%. "So seeing the surrounding inspection has a practical effect."

When asked about the frequent actions of siege and forced inspection, and the accumulation of grievances among civil servants, Carrie Lam said that a senior retired colleague once reported that he had also asked the head of the department and visited the site of the siege in Tuen Mun, and more than 30 departments were united. "I want to go to the front line and contribute to the fight against the epidemic, and even some people in the policy bureau have already been trained." I hope to participate in frontline work and serve the public

She stressed that she did not receive any complaints from some departments, and also mentioned that there were people who worked on the frontline for more than 20 hours, but she stressed, "We will arrange for them to feel sleepy." According to her understanding, there are many civil servants who want to participate, "because The people I want to do every day are more than our arrangements." If any civil servants complain about their dissatisfaction, she hopes to know that it is not "one or two opinions, one or two kinds of news" on social platforms.

Carrie Lam held a press conference today with the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing (left), and the Acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Chan Kit-chi (right).

(Photo by Huang Weilun)

Acting Secretary for Home Affairs Chan Chi-chi pointed out that the civic and municipal administration, the housing department and the environmental protection department are mainly responsible for the forced inspections. All of them independently coordinate the enclosure work, from one or two per day, to now or up to 8 areas per day, involving 10,000 residents each time.

The Home Affairs Office and the LCSD will provide cross-district support, conduct law enforcement, and arrange food and daily necessities for residents, including the state-aided Chinese medicines.

He went on to say that all departments should work together for forced inspections. The Food and Health Bureau first decides to designate buildings and the number of times to be closed, then select the inspectors and decide the time of action, and then the regional departments are in charge. There are a total of 8 policy bureaus and 39 departments assisted, including maintaining order, distributing supplies, providing hotlines to answer citizens' inquiries, arranging for drop-offs, registering information and verifying testing requirements, etc. 150 to 450 people were mobilized for each enclosure.

▼On March 19th, Tianheng Building in Shuntian Village was closed for inspection▼

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