Residents of Mau Chuen House, Shui Chuen O Estate, Sha Tin line up to get tested for COVID-19 on Feb 12, 2022. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - Fourteen persons tested preliminarily positive for COVID-19 during overnight targeted testing operations in Sha Tin and Sheung Shui, the government said Sunday.

In separate statements, the government said eight cases were found after 1,150 persons got tested at Mau Chuen House, Shui Chuen O Estate, Sha Tin.

The block was cordoned off at 6:30 pm on Saturday after sewage discharged from the building tested positive for COVID-19

At Ching Cheung House in Cheung Lung Wai Estate, Sheung Shui, six persons tested preliminarily positive while the test results for one resident was indeterminate.  

The two blocks were cordoned off on Saturday night after traces of COVID-19 were found in their sewage.

As a mutant strain was involved, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested were also required to undergo testing.

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Government staff members visited about 490 households at Mau Chuen House but 60 did not answer the door. Sixty households at Ching Cheung House also did not reply.

They were later reminded to contact the government so that arrangements could be made for them to be tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible.

The targeted testing operation in Mau Chuen House ended at 10:30 am Sunday and in Ching Cheung House at 11:30 am.