Hong Kong third wave: health officials race to contain port outbreak as nearly half of 74 new Covid-19 cases tied to container terminal cluster
- The Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, where 29 workers had previously been reported infected, accounted for 34 of Sunday’s case total
- The latest infections take city’s overall tally to 4,480, with 69 related deaths, as daily total remains under 100 for 14th straight day
Expanded tests will be carried out to cover up to 8,000 workers, many of whom spend hours inside cramped, makeshift dormitories at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, according to union members. The site now has 63 Covid-19 cases connected to more than 10 companies.
“We are still discussing what to do [if there’s a bigger outbreak], but shutting down the whole terminal would be a big deal, as many of the city’s goods and products are from there,” the Centre for Health Protection’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said when asked if there was a need to completely shut down the 279-hectare site.
Sunday’s tally included 34 tied to a cluster at Kwai Tsing, where 29 workers or their family members had previously been reported infected, taking the tally linked to the site to 63 cases.
Thirty-three of the 34 infected, most of whom exhibited no symptoms, were linked to the Wang Kee Port Operation Services Limited site and identified after testing bottles were distributed.
More than a hundred staff working for Wang Kee use the same common area. [They] eat, relax, shower inside, sleep over and live like a family. That would contribute to the high transmission
The infected workers primarily worked outdoors unloading, handling or inspecting containers, while some part-time workers also helped to move and arrange goods, though preliminary investigations found shared employee facilities to be the likeliest source of infection.