AP
The U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong was closed on Wednesday for deep cleaning after two of its employees tested positive for coronavirus, amid allegations from a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-owned news site that staff had breached quarantine regulations. We have closed the Consulate General to perform a deep disinfection and cleaning, while appropriate contact tracing is completed, the consulate said in a statement on its website.
The closure ran from Tuesday through Wednesday, and included the visa section, appointments for which will be rescheduled, it said. We have been informed that two Consulate General employees have tested positive for COVID-19, it said. We can confirm that the employees in question do not work in offices that interact with the public.
Stories of children separated from parents highlight the price of Hong Kong's coronavirus success localnews8.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from localnews8.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Families in Asia's financial hub of Hong Kong are suffering isolation and trauma after strict coronavirus rules have led to babies being separated from parents and those with newborns herded into tiny quarantine quarters for up to 14 days.
Hong Kong authorities have ordered that anyone testing positive for the virus must go to hospital, including babies, while all their close contacts, even those, who test negative, are sent to makeshift quarantine camps.
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The online booking system for Covid-19 vaccinations experienced a surge of interest on Tuesday morning as Hong Kong widened the scheme to residents aged 30 and above.
Those seeking appointments through the website encountered waiting times of between 10 and 30 minutes on the first day of the expanded inoculation drive.
The booking rush came as the city was expected on Tuesday to log about 20 new Covid-19 cases, according to a medical source.
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The system requires applicants to enter their name, identity document number and the group under which they are eligible for the doses, such as “persons aged 30 years or above”.