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Coronavirus: Health officials suspect cleaning firm to blame for Hong Kong’s first local infection in weeks

  • Company hired to disinfect rooms at quarantine hotels where infected guests stayed failed to follow protocols, government adviser says
  • Ten imported cases recorded, the most in a single day since April 29, with eight involving arrivals from Britain

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Officials are focusing their efforts on Bridal Tea House Hotel in Yau Ma Tei as part of their investigations into a cleaner’s variant infection. Photo: Google Map
Hong Kong health authorities suspect a part-time hotel cleaner who tested positive for a more transmissive strain of Covid-19 came into contact with traces of the virus left in a room by an infected guest and which a contractor failed to remove.
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The employee was confirmed as the sole local case on Friday, which brought to an end the city’s 24-day run of zero community infections and escalated fears of an outbreak of a mutated strain of the virus given she worked at two other locations.

Additionally, health authorities confirmed 10 imported cases, the most in a single day since April 29.

Eight of the infections involved arrivals from Britain while the remaining two came from Indonesia and Russia.

The city’s tally of confirmed cases stands at 11,938, with 211 related deaths.

The 41-year-old female cleaner worked at Bridal Tea House Hotel in Yau Ma Tei, where a domestic helper from Indonesia tested positive for the virus while undergoing quarantine. The arrival was sent to hospital on Sunday and a separate cleaning company specialising in disinfecting quarantine hotel rooms used by infected guests cleaned the room on Tuesday.

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