Coronavirus: Hong Kong airport’s virus ‘loopholes’ need tightening, health experts say
- Separating passengers who are arriving, leaving or merely transiting just one of the tightened measures suggested after case in Cathay Pacific lounge
- Hong Kong confirms three new imported infections on Wednesday, including cases from Turkey and the US
Segregating transit, arrival and outbound passengers – while also asking those who are just flying through Hong Kong to produce a negative coronavirus test – were just some of the tightened measures suggested to guard against the threat of cross-infection.
Transit passengers have been thrust back into focus after a worker at Cathay Pacific airport lounge The Wing was confirmed as infected with Covid-19 on Tuesday, which ended the city’s nearly two-week run of zero local coronavirus cases. The lounge, which caters to business, first class and frequent fliers, is closed until further notice.
Hong Kong confirmed three new imported Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, pushing the official tally to 12,042 cases, with 212 related deaths.
One of the travellers arrived from the United States and the other from Turkey, while the third was a seafarer. About five preliminary-positive cases were reported.
Health officials on Tuesday said they believed the Cathay worker was most likely to have been infected by transit passengers in the lounge, as outgoing travellers had a slimmer chance of carrying the virus due to low caseloads in the city.
