This aerial photo shows people working at the construction site of Tsing Yi mobile cabin hospital in Hong Kong, on Feb 26, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HONG KONG - Six community isolation facilities in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be put into use within March, providing about 20,000 beds, the HKSAR government announced on Thursday.

Community isolation facilities in Penny's Bay and the former runway area of Kai Tak are expected to be put into service in May in batches, providing about 20,000 additional beds

Two isolation facilities located in Tsing Yi and San Tin Tsuen Road, Yuen Long, have already been handed over to the HKSAR government, while the rest will be put into operation in the coming few days or late March.

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CIFs in Penny's Bay and the former runway area of Kai Tak are expected to be put into service in May in batches, providing about 20,000 additional beds, said Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam during a press conference on Thursday.

Lam said that the current sources of isolation facilities in Hong Kong are public recreational facilities, newly-built CIFs, unoccupied new public housing, hotels requisitioned or rented at government expense, and temporarily occupying two large transitional housing projects, providing over 70,000 units or beds upon completion, significantly boosting Hong Kong's isolation capacity.

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The HKSAR government, with full support of the central government, has commenced the construction work of CIFs at nine locations. Lam added that 50,000 beds will be provided after all the construction at the nine locations were completed.