Hong Kong virus cluster in housing prompts partial lockdown

Hong Kong has expanded a partial lockdown and tightened pandemic restrictions after more than 200 cases of COVID-19 were discovered at a public housing estate

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong expanded a partial lockdown and tightened pandemic restrictions Tuesday after more than 200 cases of COVID-19 were discovered at a public housing estate.

Hong Kong has already suspended many overseas flights and requires arrivals be quarantined, similar to mainland China’s “zero-tolerance” approach to the virus that has placed millions under lockdowns and mandates mask wearing, rigorous case tracing and mass testing.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said a second residential block at the Kwai Chung housing complex would be locked down for five days. The block where the virus was first discovered is already under lockdown, which will now be extended from five to seven days.

The measures aimed to “play safe protecting the residents as well as preventing the spread of the virus," Lam told reporters.