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HONG KONG – For the first time, the Hong Kong government has wielded its newfound power to make testing for Covid-19 mandatory, starting with visitors to 14 dance venues as a group that started at a dance club at Wan Chai continues to grow.
Under the Disease Prevention and Control (Mandatory Testing for Certain People) Regulations, anyone who has been present at 14 specified dance venues during the period from November 1 to November 21 must undergo a Covid-19 nucleic acid test before Tuesday (November 24).
A total of 32 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19 as part of the group that was traced to the Starlight Dance Club in Wan Chai, public broadcaster RTHK reported Sunday.
The 14 dance venues functioned as nightclubs, the government said. All party hall businesses have been ordered to close for five days, Sunday through Thursday. Live performances and dancing in bars, pubs and clubs have also been banned during the same period.
A spokesperson for the Office of Food and Health said in a statement Sunday: “The local epidemic situation is rapidly deteriorating. The number of confirmed cases from a group related to dance activities and dance venues continued to rise significantly in recent years. days, with cases distributed throughout the territory and some confirmed cases are asymptomatic.
“It indicates the existence of many silent broadcast chains in the community.”
Anyone who fails to comply with a test notice can be fined a flat fine of HK $ 2,000 (S $ 345). If that person continues to refuse to be examined, they will face a legal process that includes a fine of HK $ 25,000 and a jail sentence of six months, the government said in the statement.
Those who underwent the tests are advised to stay home and avoid going out while waiting for the test results, to reduce the risk of transmission.
The government will provide a one-time grant of HK $ 5,000 to citizens who have confirmed they have Covid-19, to address their concerns for their livelihoods should they test positive and risk losing their income. .
The Office of Food and Health said it is also working on mandatory testing for other high-risk groups, including those with Covid-19 symptoms, taxi drivers and nursing home staff.
“The government urges all people who have doubts about their own health conditions, or people at risk of infection … to immediately undergo tests for the early identification of infected people,” said the spokesman for the office .
By the end of Saturday, Hong Kong had reported 5,560 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including 108 deaths, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam promised to conduct further tests to cut the transmission chains.
Weighed by the worsening epidemic, the bilateral air travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore that would start on Sunday was postponed for two weeks.
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