Police officers in protective gear guard at the lockdown area in Kwai Chung Estate, in Hong Kong, Jan 22, 2022. (KIN CHEUNG/AP)

HONG KONG - The government on Saturday announced it is locking down another building of Kwai Chung Estate for five days after a total of 105 positive or preliminary-positive cases of the Omicron variant were detected in the estate.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at a news conference that a mass mandatory testing of residents will be carried out in the entire estate, which has about 35,000 residents in 16 blocks. The residents will be tested several times.

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Another 2,000 residents of two buildings at the adjacent Kwai Fuk Court also face mandatory testing, Lam said.

In light of the situation, CE Carrie Lam said the government will triple its capacity for sample collecting from about 10,000 samples a day to 30,000 to cope with the mass mandatory testing

In light of the situation, Lam said the government will triple its capacity for sample collecting from about 10,000 samples a day to 30,000 to cope with the mass mandatory testing.

Ying Kwai House is the second building in the estate to be locked down, following the lockdown of Yat Kwai House the day before. Ying Kwai House will remain locked down until Thursday. The government will provide the residents’ meals. A total of 96 positive or preliminary positive cases have been found at Yat Kwai House, which was locked down on Friday and will remain so until Wednesday.

As of 4 am on Saturday, Ying Kwai House has been classified as a restricted area, in which residents have been required to take mandatory tests. Lam said eight to 10 preliminary-positive cases were found in the initial results of the first batch of 940 samples.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (center) holds a press conference on measures to fight COVID-19 with the Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee (2nd left), Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan (2nd right), Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health Edwin Tsui Lok-kin (1st left), and Assistant Director of Housing (Estate Management) Ian Luk (1st right) at the Central Government Offices, Tamar, Jan 22, 2022. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

Lam also announced the classification of four more blocks in the estate as restricted areas, with which residents are required to take the test and not leave until the notice is lifted.

Noting that the total number of infections at the estate increased at an exponential rate within days, Lam stressed that the virus is very contagious and urged residents of the estate and the court, even those not living in the locked-down houses, to stay home as much as possible

Noting that the total number of infections at the estate increased at an exponential rate within days — from nine on Thursday to 105 on Saturday — Lam stressed that the virus is very contagious and urged residents of the estate and the court, even those not living in the locked-down houses, to stay home as much as possible.

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Forty more cleaners who work at the estate should be taken to the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre as they were close contacts of the confirmed infected cleaners, Lam added.

Lam said conducting citywide testing would be difficult, as it would be a huge action requiring an enormous amount of resources.

Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said the government decided on the length of the five-day lockdown after considering the relatively short incubation period of the Omicron variant and the risk of environmental contamination if residents go out.

If residents stay home, the infected cases are likely to be found in three or four days, with the expectation that all infections at the estate will be found within five days, he said.