Hong Kong will reportedly impose a lockdown in the middle of March, just weeks after its leader said there were no plans whatsoever to do so.
Hong Kong will impose a nine-day lockdown starting March 17, according to local media «Sing Tao», with the aim of testing the city’s whole population three times within the period.
This would mark a sharp U-turn from Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s comments less than a month ago that the government had no plans «whatsoever» to impose a «complete, wholesale lockdown».
Various other local media have reported potential measures involved in the lockdown with plans for the stock exchange to continue operations while residents will only be allowed to leave home to purchase key necessities like food.
Exodus Risk
Hong Kong’s lockdown plans are being rolled out in the midst of an ongoing exodus fueled in part by the strict zero-Covid regime.
Last week, Hong Kong registered a record-high net outflow of 21,698 people compared to a net inflow of 11,461 in the same week of 2021, according to government data.
Expats have made up a significant portion of the departures with 10 percent of European Union citizens living in the city having left in the last year or so, according to the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao.
