Nearly 3,000 residents at a Hong Kong housing estate will be confined to their homes for five days, authorities have announced, as they struggle to halt an outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

At least 20 confirmed or preliminary positive cases were found in a public housing block in the Kwai Chung neighbourhood, said health chief Sophia Chan, according to AFP.

“Clearly there is a community outbreak and the situation is worrying,” Chan told reporters.

A security guard, cleaner and multiple residents living in non-adjacent flats have been infected, with the source thought to be a man who visited the building on January 13.

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