Residents line up to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center for COVID-19 at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, Jan 9, 2022. (VINCENT YU/AP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 120 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday as lockdowns targeting buildings at the coronavirus-hit Kwai Chung Estate were all lifted in the morning.

Among the new infections, sources of 11 could not be known immediately and 34 were imported, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at a briefing.

The new infections took Hong Kong’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 14,025. The city also logged around 70 preliminary positive cases

Chuang said among the 86 local infections, two might be linked to imported cases as they involved workers at the airport. They are a 24-year-old man responsible for distributing clean vials to arrivals waiting to be tested and a 54-year-old cleaner of a toilet designated for arrivals.

Most of the remaining local cases were related to Kwai Chung Estate, where the total number of cases has risen to 416 involving 210 units so far.

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Chuang noted that all but one new patients linked to the estate were already quarantined when their illnesses were found. They believed the major transmission chains at Yat Kwai House, Ying Kwai House and Ha Kwai House have been broken.

But she called on residents to remain vigilant as there may still be infections linked to the buildings in the future.

Residents of Ying Kwai House and Ha Kwai House were free to leave their blocks Saturday morning as the government completed the extended lockdowns at both buildings before 7 am. The two buildings have been put under compulsory lockdown for seven and five days respectively, during which residents needed to receive daily COVID-19 testing and were banned from leaving their homes.

The seven-day lockdown imposed on Yat Kwai House came to an end Friday.

Staff members of the Housing Department check whether people in the "restricted area" at Ha Kwai House, Kwai Chung Estate have undergone compulsory testing in the enforcement operation, Jan 29, 2022. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The government said 13,526 people at Ying Kwai House were tested between Jan 22 and Jan 28, and 59 confirmed COVID-19 cases were found. Almost 800 households were visited during the operation.

A total of 16 cases were also found after authorities tested 9,660 people at Ha Kwai House between Jan 24 and Jan 28.

In view of the surge in confirmed cases, the community treatment facility in halls 9 and 11 of AsiaWorld-Expo will start operation to admit patients who are in a stable condition

Among the untraceable cases, two were suspected to be Delta and eight Omicron. The result of the remaining case was pending as the viral load was too load, Chuang said.

The new infections took Hong Kong’s tally of confirmed infections to 14,025. The city also logged around 70 preliminary positive cases. 

In view of the surge in confirmed cases, the community treatment facility in halls 9 and 11 of AsiaWorld-Expo will start operation to admit patients who are in a stable condition.

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Sara Ho Yuen-ha, chief manager of the Hospital Authority, said at the same briefing that including halls 8 and 10 that are already in operation, a total of around 1,000 beds will be provided at the community facility.

The move can alleviate the demand pressure for hospital beds, allowing public hospitals to focus resources on taking care of patients in a severe condition, Ho added.