Hong Kong has closed its beaches amid a mini heatwave in a bid to prevent social distancing violations and combat rising Covid rates.
The city logged a total 27,765 Covid-19 infections last Tuesday - 15,809 of which were confirmed through the government’s newly launched reporting platform for positive antigen test results.
According to Time Out Hong Kong reports , the city’s leader Carrie Lam confirmed that beaches would close today, following overcrowding over the weekend.
Lam said that while Hong Kong’s daily cases had plateaued, the public needed to be “very careful” and not let their guard down.
All beaches managed by Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department will be affected by the temporary closure.
The last time the city’s government-owned beaches were closed was in July 2020.
However, back in January of this year restrictions were implemented, with closures of barbeque sites, holiday camps and other outdoor leisure facilities, and the suspension of lifeguard services and the use of public toilets on beaches to prevent people from visiting.
However, local news outlet The Standard published images of overcrowded beaches in the city packed with unmasked crowds over the weekend.
It was thought the crowds had flocked to the beach for a “last hurrah” before the official closure.
Late last month The Mirror reported on a surge of Covid cases in Hong Kong having overrun hospitals. Harrowing videos showing patients waiting on stretchers outside Caritas Hospital in Kowloon while ambulances arrive at the kerb.
Emergency room waiting times have reached as high as eight hours at around 11 public hospitals which are working beyond capacity.
Hong Kong launched its "Covid zero" plan in a bid to tackle the spread of Covid, shutting its borders and announcing a 21-day quarantine for returning travellers.
But the tough measures appear to have backfired after the government failed to keep cases from spiralling.
Footage posted on a Facebook group show doctors and nurses going back and forth to the A&E department covered in protective clothing.
Residents are seen queuing around a building for a Covid rapid test in another clip shared by a local resident.
People waited for up to two hours in the enormous queue desperate to get tested, according to reports.
Hospital beds reached 90 per cent capacity amid a policy which saw every positive case hospitalised regardless of symptoms, it is understood.
