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Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongHealth & Environment

Fears of Covid-19 surge after Halloween weekend, as Hong Kong minister sounds warning over social-distancing rules amid six new infections

  • Infections include three people who were linked to a hotel in Mui Wo’s Silvermine Bay, and were among preliminary positive cases on Sunday
  • Another person related to the hotel also tests initially positive on Monday, while three imported infections are from Indonesia, Pakistan and Russia

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Police officers call for crowds to leave Lan Kwai Fong on Halloween night. Photo: Winson Wong
Elizabeth Cheung
Hong Kong’s health minister warned on Monday that social-distancing rules could be tightened again, following a weekend of Halloween partying that has raised fears of a Covid-19 resurgence.
The city recorded six new coronavirus cases on Monday, according to the Centre for Health Protection.

Those infections included three people who were linked to a hotel in Mui Wo’s Silvermine Bay – two of whom reportedly spent a staycation at the premises – and who had been among Sunday’s preliminary positive cases. A medical source said another case related to the hotel tested preliminary positive on Monday.

Meanwhile, a police source on Monday revealed that a suspected sex worker arrested in an anti-vice operation last week and who tested positive on Saturday had sparked a uniquely challenging contact-tracing effort to find not just the source of her infection, but also other clients who might have been exposed.

The mainland woman was arrested on Wednesday and spent two days at Mong Kok Police Station before being transferred to Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre, and then to Ma Tau Kok Detention Centre. Four police officers, six Immigration Department staff and six fellow detainees who came into close contact with the woman have been quarantined as a result.

As of Monday, the city had recorded 5,336 confirmed infections, with 105 related deaths.

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