As a series of infections grows from the gym cluster, the government has ordered all fitness centre workers in Hong Kong to get tested for Covid-19 by Sunday and extended compulsory testing notices to a total of 84 venues in the city. Hong Kong confirmed 60 new coronavirus infections on Friday, 47 of which are linked to the Ursus Fitness Centre cluster in Sai Ying Pun. Currently, 360 people linked to the gym outbreak have been ordered to undergo quarantine, and 450 related cases will be subject to mandatory testing.
Scheduled premises required to do the mandatory test include 48 residential buildings, 29 office buildings, three fitness centres, two schools, and two tutorial centres. Currently, in all districts in Hong Kong, if one or more new confirmed cases are found in any commercial or residential buildings, or if the building’s sewage samples tested positive, the premises will be included in the compulsory testing notice.
Persons who stayed for more than two hours at any time from February 27 to March 12 at any of the 84 venues are required to undergo testing by March 15, 2021. Free testing is available in community testing centres or mobile specimen collection stations set up in various districts. Starting March 13, mobile specimen collection stations will be available in Kennedy Town Playground, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, Summit Court (North Point), Victoria Harbour (North Point), Grand Promenade (Sai Wan Ho), Greenwood Terrace (Chai Wan), Fung Shing Street Disciplined Services Quarters (Ngau Chi Wan), Cheung Sha Wan Community Centre, Pak Lai Road (Ma Wan), Alto Residences (Tseung Kwan O), Sheung Tak Community Hall (Tseung Kwan O), Malibu, Lohas Park (Tseung Kwan O), and Block 27 of Baguio Villa (Pok Fu Lam) on March 14.
Failure to comply with the testing notices will be considered an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $5,000. Visit this link to see the full list of buildings covered by the compulsory testing requirement.
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