Hong Kong’s fourth coronavirus wave ‘will be more severe’ than the last, authorities warn, as new restaurant cluster emerges

More than 10 staff and customers of three restaurants on Hong Kong Island have been confirmed infected

Officials have not ruled out the possibility that the infections could be linked to the city’s ever-expanding dance venue cluster

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More than 10 staff and customers of three restaurants on Hong Kong Island have been confirmed infected. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:26pm, 29 Nov 2020Updated: 10:55am, 30 Nov 2020

Hong Kong authorities are warning of an even more severe fourth wave of coronavirus infections after identifying a new group of cases at three restaurants that may be linked to the ever-expanding “super-spreader” dance venue cluster.

More than 10 servers, cleaners and patrons at the three restaurants – Stellar House in Wan Chai, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Central, and Chuen Cheung Kui in Sheung Wan – have been confirmed sick, with authorities adding the venues to the mandatory testing list.

The city recorded 115 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily increase since August 1, when it saw 125 new infections. Of those, 62 were linked to the dance venue cluster, bringing the city's largest coronavirus outbreak so far to 479 cases.

The restaurant 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, where new coronavirus cases have emerged. Photo: Handout

“We have yet to find any epidemiological links between the cases from the three restaurants, but we won’t rule out the possibility that we have not found infected people who visited these places,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch.

“We are very concerned, because both staff and customers have been infected,” she added.