Elderly care home residents who are identified as close contacts of people with Covid will no longer be sent to quarantine centres, health officials announced on Thursday.

In a statement, officials said they have developed a set of guidelines on infection control that care home staff should follow when taking care of such people.

Authorities also announced that three quarantine centres at AsiaWorld-Expo will now be converted into places to look after elderly or disabled Covid patients who are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms.

There has been an increasing demand for such holding centres, officials said.

People sent to these facilities will be allowed to leave if rapid tests for Covid come back negative on the fourth and fifth days of their isolation.

The Hospital Authority said it will work with private medical practitioners to support the three holding centres, which will have a total of 270 beds between them.