Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports third case of ‘Delta Plus’ variant with hotel guest suspected of infecting man in adjacent room
- Health experts carry out investigation at the Four Points by Sheraton Tung Chung hotel, where two patients had been undergoing quarantine on same floor
- Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said one of the men liked exercising and used step machine every day, during which he exhaled large volume of virus
Health officials announced the city’s third case of the more transmissible Delta Plus variant after carrying out an investigation at the Four Points by Sheraton Tung Chung hotel, where the patients had been undergoing quarantine on the same floor from November 1 to 6.
The case resulted in an additional 14 days of quarantine for 54 current and former guests who had stayed on the 15th floor in a wing of the Lantau Island hotel. They must serve the extended period in government facilities.
Experts say Delta Plus, a sub-lineage of the Delta strain, is more transmissible than the original variant.
The second Delta Plus patient, 56, had been staying in room 1515 since arriving from Britain on November 1 and was confirmed as infected with the variant four days later. He had shared a flight from Britain with the city’s first Delta Plus case, a 62-year-old man. They had been seated on the same row.