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Medical staff at Heng Tai House in Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po. Photo: Felix Wong

Coronavirus: at least 10 households evacuated from Hong Kong public housing block in Tai Po over multiple infections

  • People from flats numbered 13 and 14 across six floors at Tai House at Fu Heng Estate asked to vacate and undergo quarantine
  • Four new infections bring local tally to 141

Residents from at least 10 households across six floors at a Hong Kong public housing estate were evacuated on Saturday night after a newly confirmed Covid-19 patient was found to be from the same block as two earlier cases.

The patient was among four latest infections announced by the evening, bringing the city’s tally to 141.

Speaking after a site inspection, Dr Wong Ka-hing, controller of the Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health, said the case in question, a 59-year-old man, lived in flat 13 on the 34th floor of Heng Tai House at Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po.

He is from the same block as a couple who joined a tour group to Egypt between February 27 and March 7, and who were reported as confirmed cases. The pair lived in flat 13 on the 32nd floor.

As a precaution, all residents in flats numbered 13 and 14 from levels 29 to 34 of the block were asked to vacate their homes and were transported to quarantine sites.

“For residents living on the 28th floor or below, we will further examine pipes in their flat. They do not have to be quarantined for now,” Wong said. “Those who feel sick should immediately seek medical attention. We will take samples from them to examine for the coronavirus.”

Heng Tai House at Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po. Photo: Google

Infectious disease expert Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said the incident at the estate was not similar to that of Hong Mei House at Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi last month, where residents were also evacuated after multiple cases were detected.

He added that the Tai Po case should also not be compared with the severe acute respiratory syndrome cluster in 2003 at Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay.

Back then, more than 100 Sars cases were reported in block E of the private housing estate, and experts concluded the killer virus had spread through sewage pipes outside the building, as well as through U-shaped water traps connected to bathroom floor drains that were not filled with enough water.

Of the 1,755 people infected with Sars in Hong Kong that year, 299 died.

Health officials at Heng Tai House. Photo: Felix Wong

Yuen on Saturday noted that the vent pipe of flat 13 on the 32nd floor of Heng Tai House was cut off and covered merely with tape. He said this was not likely to be the source of infection for the couple, as they were the first in the block to contract the virus.

He added that more inspection was required to determine the cause of the spread, and authorities would examine piping in all flats within the block on Sunday.

The expert said one possibility for transmission from the couple was through faecal matter from the 32nd-floor flat. The particles could have travelled through vent piping to the top of the block and get aerosolised, whereupon wind might have carried these back to homes near the top floors.

“Of course the 34th floor is the top floor, and that is the most dangerous, followed by the 33rd and 32nd floors,” he said.

At an earlier press briefing, Chuang said the 59-year-old man lived in the block with his wife and son. The man suffers from bone problems, and visited a hospital on March 10 after developing a cough.

Medical staff on a bus at the estate. Photo: Felix Wong

Health officials also reported the first local case of a doctor contracting the deadly coronavirus. His infection was recorded on Friday. The medical professional travelled to the United States between February 27 and March 9, and returned to Hong Kong via Tokyo on March 10.

He lives alone on Stanley Main Street and developed a cough and sore throat since March 7, but did not work after returning to the city.

Chuang said 40,000 people in the city had been tested for the virus since February 1.

Last month, more than 100 residents of Hong Mei House at Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi were evacuated after two people living on separate floors in the block were found to be infected.

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An improperly sealed toilet vent pipe in the home of one of the patients was later suspected to be the route of transmission. A total of eight cases, mostly close contacts of an earlier patient, were reported from the block.

Another new patient on Saturday was a female architect, 39, who lives and works in Chai Wan. She went to Dubai between February 27 and 29 for a business trip, and Madrid in Spain to visit friends later, returning to Hong Kong on March 11.

She developed a runny nose and visited a hospital on Friday.

The third case centred on a 28-year-old woman who lives on Clear Water Bay Road. The patient went to London between January 23 and March 11. She developed fever and a cough the next day and went to a hospital in Tseung Kwan O. She was classified as an imported case.

Close to midnight, the city’s fourth case for the day was confirmed – a 59-year-old man who had earlier tested preliminarily positive for the virus. He lives in Tivoli Garden in Tsing Yi and is the brother-in-law of a 54-year-old woman who was found to be infected earlier.

The man, who recently travelled to Morocco, developed a fever and sore throat earlier this week.

Tivoli Garden in Tsing Yi. Photo: Google

Meanwhile, an 85-year-old man, who had been infected on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise in Japan and discharged from a hospital there, tested positive again for Covid-19.

He returned negative results twice before being allowed to come back to Hong Kong earlier this month. Chuang said the man could still be carrying remnants of the virus, and his condition did not necessarily mean a relapse.

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Lau Ka-hin, chief manager (quality and standards) of the Hospital Authority, said the man went to Tuen Mun Hospital on March 11 with chest pain and was sent to a general ward the next day. He was later transferred to a surveillance ward and tested for the coronavirus after he developed a cough.

Two patients who stayed in the same general ward with him had been isolated, Lau added. Both had no symptoms so far.

This was the second time a Hongkonger who was thought to have recovered after being infected on the cruise had tested positive. On Monday a 31-year-old female passenger was found to still be carrying the virus, even though she was assumed to have beaten Covid-19 in Japan before returning home.

About 369 Hong Kong residents were stranded on the ship when it was quarantined over several weeks in a Yokohama port, with dozens of them contracting the disease. Japanese officials had placed the vessel under quarantine.

The dog with her owner. The Pomeranian was the world’s first case of a dog with a low-level Covid-19 infection. Photo: Facebook

Separately, the world’s first dog to record a low-level infection tested negative for the virus in swab samples and was returned to its Hong Kong owner.

The Pomeranian belonging to Hong Kong’s 85th patient had repeatedly tested “weak positive” in oral and nasal swab samples earlier, but a recent blood test for related antibodies to confirm an infection showed negative results.

Agriculture and health officials had insisted the dog had a low-level infection, saying it often took 14 days or more for measurable levels of antibodies.

Authorities stressed there was no evidence that pets could be a source of infection or that they could get sick from the virus.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Residents evacuated from six floors of public estate after infections
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