The Government announced today (August 18) that further to its earlier handover of Blocks 4 and 5 (i.e. Chun Sze House and Chun Wu House) of Chun Yeung Estate to the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), the intake for these two blocks will commence gradually at the end of this month. The Housing Department (HD) will soon inform prospective tenants of the details of the intake formalities.
As for Blocks 1 to 3 (namely Chun Yat House, Chun Yi House and Chun San House), due to the rapid deterioration of the COVID-19 epidemic and the severe situation over the past few weeks, the significant increases in both the number of confirmed cases and the number of close contacts of confirmed cases in Hong Kong have resulted in huge demand for quarantine facilities. To safeguard public health, the Government considers it necessary to continue to use these three blocks as quarantine centre. The Government will continue to closely monitor the developments of the epidemic situation and review the number of quarantine facilities available, and will cease the use of these three blocks as quarantine centre as soon as practicable. The Government currently estimates that Blocks 1 to 3 of Chun Yeung Estate should be able to cease being used as quarantine centre by the end of this year when the 2 000 quarantine units located in Phase 3 of Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre come into operation. The Government will then clear and thoroughly disinfect the relevant units before handing them over to the HA. The HA estimates that it may need a few months to carry out a considerable amount of restoration work and the intake of the prospective tenants may commence gradually at the beginning of the second quarter of 2021 at the earliest.
The Government deeply understands the disturbance to prospective tenants caused by the latest changes to the intake schedule of Blocks 1 to 3 of Chun Yeung Estate. The Government will actively consider providing further relief arrangements for the affected eligible prospective tenants under the Anti-epidemic Fund, and will notify them separately.
During the period when Blocks 1 to 3 of Chun Yeung Estate are being used as quarantine centre, the Department of Health will adopt strict quarantine management measures, which include restricting the persons under quarantine to stay inside the quarantine units. If the persons under quarantine have medical needs, they will be arranged to be taken to hospital by ambulance from the quarantine centre direct. In addition, persons under quarantine are not allowed to come into contact with any persons other than the quarantine centre staff and medical personnel. The HD will segregate the quarantine centre (Blocks 1 to 3) and the remaining parts of the Estate (Blocks 4 and 5 and the Chun Yeung Shopping Centre) with tall partitions. There are also separate pedestrian and vehicular entrances and exits at Blocks 4 and 5 for residents' access to Chun Yeung Estate through separate channels. The above measures can effectively prevent persons and vehicles going to or leaving the quarantine centre from entering or exiting the premises of Blocks 4 and 5. Thus, Blocks 4 and 5 are suitable for accommodation. The Government also recommends that residents of Chun Yeung Estate continue to adhere to the general hygiene measures for the public provided by the Government for epidemic prevention, including wearing surgical masks properly, maintaining personal hygiene, performing hand hygiene frequently, and keeping social distance from others as far as possible.
In regard to the above arrangements, the HD will also issue letters to the prospective tenants of Chun Yeung Estate to update them on the latest developments of the intake of the Estate.
The Government deeply understands that the use of the Estate as quarantine centre has caused a great impact and inconvenience for prospective tenants. However, since Hong Kong is facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections, the quarantine centre located in Chun Yeung Estate has been playing a very important and irreplaceable role. The Government would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to all prospective tenants for their patience and understanding.
Follow this news feed: East Asia