Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility

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Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility, formerly Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre, [1] was a designated quarantine facility in Penny's Bay, Hong Kong [2] during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The facility was run by the Hong Kong Government. Throughout the pandemic, the isolation facility served more than 270,000 people, before eventually being closed on 1 March 2023. [1] [3]

Contents

History

Originally, the site was previously part of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, where a second theme park would have been constructed. However, following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the quarantine centre was built on the site.

Construction began in February 2020 [2] with the centre being built by China State Construction International Holdings, [4] and Phase 1A was completed, on 17 April 2020. [5] On 16 July 2020, the facility opened to house close contacts of those infected with COVID-19. [1]

In September 2021, the facility used 800 units to help house around 4000 domestic helpers. [1]

In February 2022, the facility was renamed "Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility". [1]

On 1 March 2023, the facility was closed as COVID-19 restrictions were loosened. [1]

Controversies

Tainted food

In 2021, Danny Catering Service, a caterer for Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility, was found to have been storing food at unsuitable temperatures after an inspection by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. In the same inspection, a tested food sample was found to be contaminated with Bacillus cereus. [6]

Poor logistics

Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility was accused of poor logistical planning, leading to reports of low-quality food, [7] [6] lack of medicine to treat Covid-19, [8] and lack of Wi-Fi, instead offering limited data sim cards. [9] It was also reported that at times the facility's help hotline was out of service for long periods of time. [10]

Suicide attempts

In 2022, it was reported that there were three attempted suicides at the facility within 27 hours of each other. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility closing ceremony (with photos)". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 Verebes, Rubin (10 September 2021). "From Ming Dynasty Port to Quarantine Centre: The Story of Penny's Bay". The Beat Hong Kong. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  3. ↑ "Handover ceremony of Penny's Bay and Kai Tak Community Isolation Facilities held today (with photos)". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "DEVB - SDEV Press Releases: CE inspects... (11186)". www.devb.gov.hk. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Hong Kong Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre(Phase 1A)" . Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Caterer for Hong Kong quarantine camp could face prosecution". South China Morning Post. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  7. ↑ Kong, Dimsumdaily Hong (10 May 2021). "F&B experts say inferior quality of food at Penny Bay's quarantine centre due to low tender price offered by govt". Dimsum Daily. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  8. ↑ Standard, The. "Our living nightmare in Penny's Bay". The Standard. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  9. ↑ "There's no Wi-fi and it's BYOB: a Hong Kong quarantine camp survival guide". South China Morning Post. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  10. 1 2 凌逸德 (22 February 2022). "竹篙灣管理混亂遭鬧爆 59歲女子曾激動企跳". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 24 February 2025.


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