Explainer | Should you be worried about Hong Kong’s wet market Covid-19 clusters, and do they compare to Wuhan or Beijing?

Medical experts say an apparently swift clampdown on two Kowloon clusters was no reason to be dismissive of a threat one called a ‘ticking time bomb’

But the sheer scale of mainland markets – and the presence of wild game there – mean the similarities may not be as close as you think

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University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung conducts an inspection of the Hung Hom Market where cases of Covid-19 were reported. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:00am, 6 Aug 2020Updated: 2:22pm, 6 Aug 2020

Hong Kong has seen its daily number of Covid-19 cases fall below 100 for three straight days, but just as the city shows signs of reining in a resurgent third wave of infections, an unfolding health crisis at two wet markets has threatened to derail those efforts and raised the spectre of a wider outbreak similar to the ones in Wuhan and Beijing.

On Monday, three more fish stall operators were added to the growing cluster of infections tied to the Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan markets, which combined now total 15 patients, prompting health officials and infectious disease experts to warn of risks similar to those at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale market in Wuhan and Beijing’s Xinfadi food market, both previous coronavirus hotspots.

Below we look at what has happened in the city’s wet markets, whether comparisons to the mainland markets are valid, and how authorities and residents should be coping with it.

Workers at a number of local seafood stalls have been confirmed infected with the coronavirus amid a third wave of Covid-19 infections. Photo: Nora Tam

What has happened in Hong Kong’s wet markets?

Two markets barely 15 minutes’ walk from each other in Kowloon’s Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan neighbourhoods emerged as new centres of infections this week when a number of fish stall operators – four at Hung Hom and two in To Kwa Wan – were confirmed as Covid-19 patients.

Altogether, there have been 15 infections tied to the two sites, including cleaners and workers at frozen meat and dry goods stores.

Explainer | Should you be worried about Hong Kong’s wet market Covid-19 clusters, and do they compare to Wuhan or Beijing?

Medical experts say an apparently swift clampdown on two Kowloon clusters was no reason to be dismissive of a threat one called a ‘ticking time bomb’ But the sheer scale of mainland markets – and the presence of wild game there – mean the similarities may not be as close as you think

Medical experts say an apparently swift clampdown on two Kowloon clusters was no reason to be dismissive of a threat one called a ‘ticking time bomb’

But the sheer scale of mainland markets – and the presence of wild game there – mean the similarities may not be as close as you think