A vendor (left) waits for customers in his printing shop as a pedestrian walks past in Hong Kong on Jan 15, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Thousands of residents of 20 old buildings in Hong Kong’s Yau Tsim Mong district will be subject to mandatory testing as the financial hub reported 38 new coronavirus infections on Friday, of which 35 locally transmitted. 

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Residents of 20 buildings in the area bordered by Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Ferry Street and Kansu Street will need to undergo COVID-19 testing from Saturday to Monday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee told the press.

Amon the 35 local cases reported on Friday, 14 were untraceable, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch

More than 80 COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in the affected area in the past two weeks, with most cases detected at four connected buildings on Reclamation Street. Chan said the new compulsory testing requirement for this area applies to buildings where there is at least one single case detected.

Other residents in the district can receive free testing at the community testing center in the region or a mobile testing station which will be set up soon.

Among the 35 local cases reported on Friday, 14 were untraceable, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at a regular briefing.

The three imported cases were from Switzerland, the Philippines and Indonesia. The patient from Indonesia tested positive on the 19th day of quarantine following two positive results from the previous tests, Chuang said. The city's overall tally stood at 9,452.

There were more than 40 people who tested preliminarily positive for the virus, Chuang added.

The government has canceled the fireworks display over Victoria Harbour as well as the lantern carnivals to celebrate the Chinese New Year due to the lingering pandemic

Four new patients were linked a cluster that originated at the central tunnel construction site of the Central Kowloon Route, Chuang said. So far 26 patients have been involved in this cluster.

Apart from the thousands of residents in the 20 blocks, those living at two other buildings are also subject to mandatory testing. Five cases involving two units have been reported at Fung Wah Estate Hiu Fung House in Chai Wan, while four cases from three units have been reported on No 15-27A Pitt Street in Yau Ma Tei, according to Chuang.

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Meanwhile, the government said in a statement issued on Friday that the fireworks display over Victoria Harbour as well as the lantern carnivals to celebrate the Chinese New Year will be canceled due to the lingering pandemic.

The Chinese New Year fireworks display was canceled last year due to ongoing anti-government protests.

Other new year celebrations scheduled for next month, including the Chinese New Year fairs and the Che Kung Festival Fair in Sha Tin, have also been called off.