Coronavirus: first Delta Plus infection found in Hong Kong

Patient arrived from Britain on Monday via British Airways flight 027, and authorities have issued testing orders for where he works in Happy Valley and lives in Pok Fu Lam

Whole genome sequencing of patient’s sample by a public laboratory found a match with a sub-lineage of the Delta strain, known as AY.4.2

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An aerial view of the Hong Kong Football Club in Causeway Bay, where the patient works. Photo: SCMP

Published: 6:37pm, 5 Nov 2021Updated: 11:25pm, 5 Nov 2021

Health authorities have reported Hong Kong’s first coronavirus infection involving the “Delta Plus” strain, which experts warn may be more transmissible than the original variant.

While overseas evidence suggests the latest version of the virus may spread more easily among household members, local public health experts urged residents not to panic, with authorities stressing the strain was not significantly more resistant to Covid-19 vaccines.

The Delta Plus diagnosis, involving a 62-year-old man who arrived from Britain on Monday via British Airways flight 027, was revealed by the Centre for Health Protection on Friday. Whole genome sequencing of the patient’s sample by a public laboratory found a match with a sub-lineage of the Delta strain, known as AY.4.2 to the medical community.

The patient, who lives in Block 21 of Baguio Villa in Pok Fu Lam, had travelled to Britain on October 16. The airport testing centre detected his infection upon arrival, and the man’s sample was sent for full sequencing analysis.

The man arrived in Hong Kong via a British Airways flight. Photo: Nora Tam

The patient, who is employed at the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley, last went to work on October 14, according to the centre. His workplace and residential block, as well as locations he visited during the virus incubation period, have been issued with a mandatory testing notice. No local cases have been found so far.