HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday again urged residents of the densely populated city to stay at home and avoid unnecessary family gatherings as the global financial hub scrambles to contain a rise in coronavirus cases.
Lam was speaking at her weekly press conference a day after the government announced tighter measures to curb the spread of the disease that will see group gatherings restricted to two people and most civil servants working from home.
Schools across the territory will close for the rest of the year from Wednesday.
Hong Kong has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases after weeks of reporting single-digit or low double digit numbers, but it has so far avoided a complete lockdown implemented in other cities across the world.
On Monday, Hong Kong reported 76 new cases, bringing the total in the city of 7.4 million to more than 6,300 since the epidemic started, with 109 deaths.
While there had been a ban on gatherings of more than four people, larger groups of residents have been widely seen together across the territory, especially on weekends and public holidays, although it’s rare to see anyone without a face mask.
(Reporting By Donny Kwok and Clare Jim; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
