Coronavirus: fears over workplace transmission as Hong Kong woman, husband confirmed with Covid-19 and two of her colleagues test positive
- The 34-year-old woman is on a ventilator at Prince of Wales Hospital; her husband has also been confirmed with disease
- Three hospital workers who had attended to the woman were not wearing full set of protective clothing, officials reveal
The husband of the 34-year-old woman was also confirmed with the disease on Sunday, ending the city’s more than two-week run without a local coronavirus infection. Hong Kong’s tally of confirmed cases now stands at 1,084.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said the two other women who tested weak positive had been sick much earlier, between April 25 and 27, and did not rule out the possibility of workplace transmission. Neither of them had any travel history.
“As the two women who tested weak positive had symptoms earlier than the confirmed patient, there is a chance of a transmission chain within the warehouse,” Chuang said. “But we are still investigating the exact path the virus was passed.”
The three women worked the night shift at a Kerry Logistics warehouse in Kwai Chung labelling pre-packaged fruit and vegetables from the United Kingdom. Their other 25 colleagues will be sent to quarantine centres.
Up to 100 other people who worked in the same building will also be asked to give samples for testing.
Meanwhile, Dr Sara Ho Yuen-ha, the Hospital Authority’s chief manager for patient safety and risk management, revealed at the briefing that three of the emergency medical staff who attended to the woman when she was first sent to hospital had not been wearing the full set of protective clothing.