Hongkongers at a government isolation facility say some foreigners, most of them linked to the Ursus Fitness gym cluster, are flouting quarantine rules despite the warnings of staff.
A number of them have been spotted opening their windows and doors while doing yoga and yelling maskless to others in opposite units, locals quarantining at the Penny’s Bay facility on Lantau Island told HK01.
Some have reportedly even ducked out of their rooms to pass items to neighbors.
“I think it may be safer if they just stayed at home,” one person said to the local outlet.
One quarantinee, Ms Ho, said that staff have told them to close their doors. But when they see that nobody is watching, they reopen them again.
She said she worries the behavior could increase the risk of the virus spreading through droplets in the air, should any of them be infected.
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Coconuts has reached out to the Department of Health for comment.
With health experts referring to the cases at Ursus Fitness, a popular gym among foreigners, as a “super-spreader” cluster, Hong Kong’s expatriate community is seeing its closest brush with COVID-19 since the epidemic began.
As of Tuesday, 127 infections have been linked to the cluster, and over 750 people—among them lawyers, finance professionals and international school teachers—have been identified as close contacts and quarantined.
Over the past week, Facebook groups have blown up with posts from expatriate parents criticizing the government’s requirement that even months-old babies quarantine with their parents at a facility.
One petition, further arguing that young, school-aged children should be allowed to isolate at home, has garnered over 5,200 signatures in three days.
“They are not mature enough to handle the stress of being snatched away from their homes and thrown into a foreign place,” the petition reads, adding that two weeks at the facility is a “terrifying experience” that could have an “impact on their entire life.”
The outcry, coming more than a year since the government’s strict quarantine policies have been in place, have drawn accusations that the wealthy community is demanding “special treatment.”
