Omicron: Hong Kong logs second straight day of triple-digit Covid-19 cases as public health crisis deepens
- Further concerns sparked by discovery of both Omicron and Delta variants in sewage samples taken in another densely populated district
- Health authorities confirm 109 new Covid-19 infections, 98 of them locally transmitted and 11 brought in from overseas
Further concerns have been sparked by the discovery of both the Omicron and Delta variants in sewage samples taken in another densely populated district where cases were detected in a residential tower.
Health authorities confirmed 109 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, 98 of them locally transmitted and 11 brought in from overseas. About 100 preliminary-positive cases were also reported.
Most of the local infections came from the superspreading cluster at Kwai Chung Estate, which has now grown to about 210 confirmed and preliminary-positive cases in 12 out of 16 blocks.
The estate turned up 69 confirmed cases on Monday, with Yat Kwai and Ying Kwai houses – the two blocks placed under five-day lockdowns – reporting 27 and 33 more infections respectively. Nine cases were reported from other blocks, including four new ones – Pik Kwai, Pak Kwai, Luk Kwai and Ha Kwai houses.
Complaints continued to pour in from residents about unhygienic conditions, unsafe disposal of personal protective equipment, and chaotic arrangements that could worsen the expanding outbreak.
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In another worrying development, sewage samples in Wong Tai Sin tested positive for Omicron and Delta, the latter variant having earlier surfaced in a cluster linked to imported pet shop hamsters.
While most of Monday’s confirmed cases were linked to Kwai Chung Estate, 24 were found in other parts of the city, including two in Block 1 of Wong Tai Sin’s Tropicana Gardens that were suspected to involve Delta.
One preliminary-positive case was also found in the block, involving a patient who had recently bought a hamster. The three patients all live in the E flats on different floors.
Top microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, who inspected Block 1 on Monday night with health officials, said vertical transmission had “obviously” occurred, spreading from the fifth to the seventh and eighth floors.
All residents in E flats will be evacuated and sent to quarantine camps.
The preliminary-positive patient, a 26-year-old man who lives on the fifth floor, developed symptoms on January 15. He said he bought a hamster at I Love Rabbit in Mong Kok in December. Environmental samples taken from the pet shop had tested positive for the virus. The man’s colleague is also infected.
“It has been nine days since the 5E resident developed symptoms, so he can spread the virus to many people,” Yuen said.
He also warned people not to cover drains with tape and to pour half a litre (17oz) of water into drains every few days to ensure U-traps worked properly and prevented air from waste pipes entering homes.
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Respiratory medicine specialist Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan said Wong Tai Sin, with many old public housing estates, could turn into another Kwai Chung.
“If we are not careful and not isolating patients there quickly, we could see superspreading that could affect many of the elderly, including those in care facilities,” he warned.
Elsewhere, a construction worker, infected earlier, at a site on Victory Avenue in Mong Kok was also found to have spread the virus to eight colleagues, while vertical transmission was suspected at Fu Keung House on Kwai Chung’s Tai Wo Hau Estate.
Yuen said the virus had spread from flat 423 to 323. Since top-to-bottom vertical transmission had occurred and a kindergarten – already closed due to Covid-19 restrictions – was on the second floor, only flats next door, namely 421 and 321, would be evacuated as they shared a waste pipe.
Five of Monday’s cases were untraceable, including a pupil at King George V School in Ho Man Tin who lives in Tung Chung, and a woman from Kwai Fong Estate who had recently visited Kwai Fong Plaza and Metroplaza.
The Hospital Authority also revealed that two Covid-19 patients had recently donated blood at Hong Kong Red Cross stations in Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin.
Platelet samples taken from the donor at Tsuen Wan were given to a hospital patient last Wednesday. The patient will be monitored and tested. The authority said the likelihood of bloodborne Covid-19 transmission was “very, very low”.
Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, meanwhile, said a person who worked in the complex last Wednesday had tested preliminary-positive.
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Leung said the individual, an assistant hired by a contractor to help Legco upload online videos, lived in Yat Kwai House at Kwai Chung Estate. The staff member had worn a mask while working on level 1M and the third floor of the building.
Asked how many people needed to be quarantined or tested because of the case, Leung would only say: “We are fully cooperating with the health department’s investigation, and will provide information for them to follow up.”
Legco brought in cleaners to sanitise the affected levels, and allowed staff to work from home – except those providing services for meetings and who are needed to maintain basic operations.
Leung said that from February 16, anyone entering the complex – staff, lawmakers and their assistants, officials, journalists and visitors – would need to be vaccinated with at least one shot. Only those with medical certificates and pregnant women will be exempted.
He also said Legco would conduct meetings virtually if needed, and four rehearsals would be held on Tuesday for lawmakers to familiarise themselves with how such sessions could be held virtually.
Earlier on Monday, the government also announced some public servants would start working from home as much as possible to reduce the number of staff in offices, adding that the provision of public services could temporarily suffer as a result.
A government spokesman also urged private sector employers to allow their staff to do the same to reduce the potential for the virus’ spread.
Meanwhile, respiratory expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu said Hong Kong was in no position to think about dropping its strict zero-Covid approach in favour of coexisting with the virus.
“At this stage, don’t fantasise about living with this virus, as the vaccines are not effective in tackling the mutated virus,” he said, while urging the public to stay home for one week and avoid dining out.
He also said if the number of cases at Kwai Chung Estate did not start coming down, residents in the rest of the buildings there should also be put into quarantine.
Jasper Chan Fuk-woo, a clinical associate professor in microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, agreed Hong Kong was not ready to pivot to living with the virus, pointing to the large proportion of elderly people who remained unvaccinated.
Additional reporting by William Yiu