Hong Kong Earmarks 20,000 Hotel Rooms For Quarantine As COVID Cases Surge

Hong Kong has identified more than 20,000 hotel rooms for quarantine accommodation, leader Carrie Lam said on Friday, as property developers piled in to show support for the global financial hub as it battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Lam said 21 hotels had expressed interest in turning their facilities into isolation venues, exceeding "by a large margin the government's original target of 7,000 to 10,000 rooms".

Quarantine facilities in Hong Kong have reached capacity and hospital beds are more than 95% full as cases spiral, with some patients, including elderly, left on beds outside in chilly, sometimes rainy weather.

Global banks HSBC and Standard Chartered said some branches were shut on Friday after several staff became infected.

Hong Kong's daily infections have jumped by up to 60 times so far this month as the government battles to contain an outbreak. Chinese President Xi Jinping said the city's "overriding mission" is to stabilise and control the spread.

Hong Kong reported 3,629 new daily COVID-19 infections on Friday, with an additional 7,600 preliminary positive cases.

Authorities reported 10 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total deaths to over 240 but still lower than in other similar major cities.

The Hospital Authority said it was aiming to move all patients currently lying outside in open-air beds to indoors by Friday night ahead of an expected drop in temperature to around 10 degrees C (50?F).

CK Asset Holdings, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it would provide more than 3,000 hotel rooms in four hotels. Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) said it could provide 1,000 rooms. Both developers said they would broadcast a government promotional video on vaccine passports in its major malls.

New World Development said it planned to provide about 700 rooms, while Henderson Land Development said its founding Lee family would donate HK$10 million ($1.3 million) to send anti-epidemic materials to elderly homes, among others.

Reuters reported in September that Beijing had given a new mandate to the global financial hub's powerful property tycoons, telling them to pour resources and influence into backing Beijing's interests.

The government said the Dorsett Tsuen Wan hotel in the city's northern New Territories region would provide accommodation starting on Friday for people who tested positive for COVID-19 but had no or mild symptoms.

MAINLAND HELP

Lam greeted the arrival of several mainland Chinese health experts to help with the outbreak on Thursday and said citywide virus testing was being considered.

Local media cited her as saying 300,000 tests could be conducted daily by the end of this month. The city has capacity for around 200,000 tests now.

China is ramping up to help boost capacity, with mobile testing vehicles from the mainland arriving in Hong Kong this week.

Residents had mixed opinions on a potential mass testing plan, with some saying it could help stamp out the virus while others said it would not help.

"If the government wants to test citizens altogether, there will be a long queue as it is now. Waiting... is a big problem for the elderly or those who are not in good health," said Kenneth Liu, 47.

China previously helped Hong Kong roll out a voluntary mass testing programme in 2020.

The mainland would ensure a steady supply of fresh food with a new water route for food supplies from Guangdong to Hong Kong starting on Friday evening, said Luo Huining, head of China's Liaison office in Hong Kong.

The move comes after vegetable shortages in the past week due to several cross-border drivers testing positive for the virus.

A pork slaughterhouse near the border was also closed after authorities found 89 positive cases.

($1 = 7.7987 Hong Kong dollars)