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Hong Kong's new COVID isolation facility has sea views, connected family rooms

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Nadia Lam and Edith Lin, South China Morning Post

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Kai Tak isolation facility. Photo: Yik Yeung -man, South China Morning Post" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/08/07/facility.jpg"/><figcaption>The Kai Tak isolation facility. <em>Photo: Yik Yeung -man, South China Morning Post</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Hong Kong&#x27;s security minister has announced the launch of a coronavirus isolation facility with 3,000 units located in the prime Kai Tak development area, with the blocks featuring private toilets, sea views and connecting rooms for families.</p><p>Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung on Saturday posted pictures of the new facility on Facebook, showing off lifts and individual bathrooms for every isolation unit, which are largely unavailable in similar centres across the city.</p><p>&quot;Residents and staff do not need to walk up the stairs as there are lifts. Some rooms can enjoy the sea view or garden view. There is even an aeroplane in the garden,&quot; he said, referring to a retired Government Flying Service aircraft exhibited there.</p><p>The Security Bureau is responsible for overseeing the management of the city&#x27;s isolation facilities.</p><p>According to the social media post, the facility has several connected units for families undergoing quarantine, with dedicated teams tasked with managing the site&#x27;s individual blocks.</p><p>&quot;We hope that everyone will enjoy a better experience during their isolation, where they can find a little sweetness in the bitterness,&quot; Tang said.</p><p>The site spanning eight hectares (20 acres), located next to the cruise terminal and originally intended for commercial use, was pulled from the land sale programme earlier this year. Authorities are also considered using the area to provide transitional housing for low-income families once the Covid-19 pandemic eases.</p><p>Under current anti-epidemic measures, coronavirus patients are allowed to quarantine at home unless their living arrangements are considered unsuitable for isolation.</p><p>At the height of the fifth wave of infections in March, a new isolation facility in Tsing Yi, built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation in just seven days, became a source of controversy due to its conditions.</p><p>The facility was flooded after heavy rain, a week into operation. with videos circulated online showing residents having to step on plastic stools to avoid falling into muddy puddles in order to use the bathroom. Residents also complained about the quality of food and room-sharing arrangements between strangers.</p><p>Regarding the capacity of the city&#x27;s other anti-epidemic facilities, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said two holding centres for infected care home residents were only partially full, while another eight sites could be reopened if required.</p><p>The two sites, Shek Kip Mei Park and Siu Sai Wan sports centres, can provide a total of 340 beds for coronavirus patients from care homes who are asymptomatic or present mild symptoms.</p><p>The minister added that most of the healthcare workers needed to operate the reserve facilities would have to be sourced locally, but a mechanism was also in place to seek additional personnel from mainland China.</p><p>The decision to seek additional staff from across the border would depend on the occupancy rate of the holding centres and the development of the pandemic, Sun said.</p><p>At the height of the fifth wave, 391 medical workers from 25 medical institutions on the mainland arrived in Hong Kong to help contain the surge in cases.</p><p>Hong Kong is currently isolating infected residents at three locations - about 5,500 people are staying at the Penny Bay&#x27;s facility and roughly 800 others at two designated hotels, for a total occupancy rate of 80 per cent, according to the bureau.</p><div><strong>Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.</strong></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/07/22/hong-kong-suspends-not-effective-covid-flight-ban">Hong Kong suspends &#x27;not effective&#x27; COVID flight ban</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/18/22/hk-health-experts-set-to-ok-vaccines-for-below-3-yo">HK health experts set to approve vaccines for children aged below 3</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVE</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1958196" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Secretary for Security Chris Tang showcases new isolation facility in Kai Tak. He hopes coronavirus patients can find ‘a little sweetness in the bitterness’.

Hong Kong's new COVID isolation facility has sea views, connected family rooms

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Hong Kong's new COVID isolation facility has sea views, connected family rooms

Nadia Lam and Edith Lin,

South China Morning Post

Published August 07, 2022 08:53 AM PHT

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Updated August 07, 2022 09:13 AM PHT

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