Covid patients ordered to wear tag to stop them leaving homes while in quarantine in world’s strictest lockdown

HONG Kong’s new health chief has announced draconian plans to force Covid patients to wear an electronic tag to keep them trapped at home.

The new restrictions will also see all civilians’ names registered through a pandemic tracking app and movement restricted through a dystopian traffic light colour code.

AFP

Hong Kong’s health chief has announced a raft of new Covid restrictions that will see the region follow many of mainland-China’s draconian health restrictions[/caption]

AFP

Included in the recently announced orders is electronic trackers for all quarantining residents to monitor their movements[/caption]

GovHK

Covid patients in Hong Kong will be ordered to wear these tags to stop them leaving their homes[/caption]

Intended to follow the lead of mainland-China’s strict health laws, the new policy will direct anyone quarantining in the former British territory to wear the trackers.

The ruthless new health rules will also see the region’s contact-tracing LeaveHomeSafe app drastically enhanced.

Introduced today by Hong Kong’s new health minister Lo Chung-Mau, the regulations come as neighbouring China has clung on to its brutal ‘zero Covid’ policies.

Hong-Kong residents will also now be required to register by-name with an official Covid-monitoring app that can restrict their movements.

Under the previous rules, civilians only needed the app to enter venues and show their vaccination records.

Announcing the ruthless updates, Lo said the move would help enforce pandemic orders and to “identify confirmed cases and people required to undergo quarantine.”

He also claimed that the new rules for the LeaveHomeSafe app were “not to track” individuals.

Following mainland-China’s lead would see Hong-Kong join the world’s strictest lockdown regulations over two-and-a-half years since the first Coronavirus case was detected worldwide.

The relentless restrictions in Beijing have seen children snatched from their families as terrified parents witness their kids forced into quarantines.

All arrivals into Hong Kong will still need to complete a week’s mandated quarantine and comply with frequent testing.

The current orders also require stool samples from babies and a slate of forms to keep track of all those coming and going from the region.

Similarly Orwellian rules to cage people in their homes led to horrific scenes earlier this year in Shanghai as the laws caused thousands to scream out their windows in agony.

Admitting the unpopularity of the new health rules, Lo said: “We understand the aspiration for better arrangements to connect with the world and to revive economic activities.

“We are looking at more precise quarantine measures.”

Hong Kong has reported more than 1.2 million coronavirus infections and around 9,400 deaths.

Authorities reported 2,863 new cases on Monday.