Anne Marie Roantree, Greg Torode

HONG KONG (Reuters), – Sunday’s warning by Carrie Lam, a leader in Hong Kong, was that COVID-19 could rapidly grow in a dense residential area and that the overall number of cases has also increased due to the spread of an epidemic in pet hamsters.

As officials battled to contain an Omicron variant outbreak in Kwai Chung (north of Hong Kong’s Kowloon peninsula), Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, urged Hong Kongers not to gather ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Lam stated that he was concerned about Kwai Chung’s exponential growth in cases, as compared to other areas of the globe.

Hong Kong’s zero COVID strategy to eliminate the disease is being tested. There are schools, gyms, and restaurants that have closed at 6pm (1000 GMT), and there has been severe disruption or cancellation of air travel from many important hubs.

Lam spoke out after meetings with local health officials and said there was only “slim possibility” that the citywide restrictions on February 4th could be lifted, as had been planned.

She stated that the second Kwai Chung apartment building, which houses more than 2000 people, would be closed for five days.

Officials shut down the first Kwai Chung Building for five days on Friday after 20 suspected cases. Food was delivered three times per day from outside, and testing began.

Officials had recorded 105 cases at Kwai Chung by Saturday. This includes confirmed positive and preliminary negative tests.

Lam stated that the 16 properties in the vicinity would all be subject to compulsory testing and restrictions. The effect will impact approximately 35,000 residents.

On Saturday, local media reported that authorities were looking into tightening citywide restrictions. But no such confirmation was made.

Officials ordered Tuesday’s killing of approximately 2,000 hamsters in dozens of pet shops. They traced a coronavirus epidemic to an employee at the shop. 11 of those hamsters were later found positive for COVID-19.

Lam claimed that there were more cases of the Delta type due to the hamster epidemic.

Lam stated that while pet owners may be unhappy, the greatest public interest is controlling the pandemic.

Thousands of people have offered to adopt unwanted hamsters https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kongs-covid-19-hamster-cull-sparks-fear-owners-abandoning-pets-2022-01-19 amid a public outcry against the government and its pandemic advisers.