Hong Kong authorities battling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus are urging residents to not panic after residents stormed grocery shops this week over the expectation of an imminent lockdown.
Chief Govt Carrie Lam beforehand mentioned there wouldn’t be a citywide lockdown and obligatory testing. However on Monday, Well being Secretary Sophia Chan mentioned that possibility was not dominated out, spurring residents to grocery shops, banks and pharmacies, based on Reuters.
The town authorities on Tuesday mentioned it was contemplating choices for mass testing and at present refining these plans, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong has battled an unprecedented wave of COVID-19 this 12 months for a metropolis that largely averted mass infections early within the pandemic.
In early February, Lam rolled out extra stringent restrictions, together with closing church buildings and salons and limiting social gatherings, after 2,600 confirmed instances have been reported prior to now two weeks, in comparison with simply two in December.
Amid the spike in instances, Hong Kong officers traveled to China to fulfill with well being authorities who authorized sending lab gear to help the town.
In line with a chart compiled by Reuters, 32,359 instances have been reported in Hong Kong on Feb. 27, with 82 deaths on that very same day.
Because the pandemic started, there have been 238,377 infections and 744 coronavirus-related deaths.
Hong Kong was reporting beneath 100 instances per day till late January, based on the chart.
