The Secretary for Labour and Welfare said on Sunday that the government is hiring 1,000 temporary workers from the mainland to take care of elderly Covid patients at its isolation and treatment facilities.

Writing on his official blog, he said many care home residents had been transferred to these facilities amid the latest coronavirus outbreak.

Care workers from the mainland are being hired on a three-month contract to work at these facilities, he said.

"We will continue to set up more isolation facilities for care home residents, but staff shortage is a fatal problem," he wrote.

"We have contacted relevant authorities on the mainland. We have also sought help from the central government in a bid to speed up hiring. The first workers will arrive soon. They will receive basic training."

He said the government would also temporarily relax restrictions on care homes hiring imported labour.

Previously, they could only import workers if a four-week local recruitment drive failed to find suitable candidates.

Law said this regulation would be suspended for three months.