Residents of the Yuamatei neighbourhood of Hong Kong were filmed last night (January 22) fleeing the area after information leaked in the media that the zone was about to be locked down to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Despite not being confirmed or any notice being put out by the government, around midnight, people could be seen leaving the area with luggage.

Later, trucks started bringing in supplies of PPE as well as food, presumably for people under lockdown.

The lockdown followed weeks of high number of coronavirus cases.

Despite the pandemic raging for over a year, it is the first time authorities have resorted to a lockdown.

On Friday, information leaked in the press of a planned lockdown, starting at midnight on Friday evening, for an area in the poor neighborhood of Yaumatei, in Hong Kong. This lockdown followed weeks of high numbers of positive cases of Covid-19 in the area. Despite not being confirmed or any notice being put out by the government, around midnight, people could be seen fleeing the area. Later, trucks started bringing in supplies of PPE as well as food (presumably for people under lockdown). The Government plans on having each person in the area tested, which leaves some skeptical as the sanitary conditions in the area are quite dire, with often exterior sewage pipes leaking. The Yau Tsim Mong area saw over 250 cases of coronavirus in the past two weeks. Nevertheless, around 12.30, a police team established a cordon on the northern limit of the lockdown area before... just leaving.

Despite the pandemic raging for over a year, it is the first time the authorities seem to have chosen the route of the lockdown, a difficult exercise in a very dense city.