bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Victor Ting

Hong Kong has reported its first untraceable local coronavirus case in nearly three months, with officials warning it is likely to be an Omicron infection and may indicate silent transmission chains in the community.
The development on Tuesday came hours after Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said it was fortunate the city had no untraceable cases despite an outbreak of the Omicron variant. She announced the postponement of a plan to bar unvaccinated people from all restaurants, leisure venues and schools until February 24 to give businesses and residents more time to prepare.
But later in the day, Dr Albert Au Ka-wing of the Centre for Health Protection revealed that a preliminary-positive infection – involving a 42-year-old resident of Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun – appeared to have no links to earlier cases.


“Initial epidemiological research has shown he has not visited any high-risk places or been in contact with other confirmed patients,” Au told a press briefing. “It is possible there are silent transmission chains in the community.”
The city last reported an unlinked local case on October 8, when a 48-year-old cargo handler was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
A wave of imported infections also pushed the city’s overall tally of confirmed cases to 12,761 on Tuesday. Thirty-nine new cases were confirmed, all but three of them imported.
Fewer than 50 people tested preliminary-positive, including one case which triggered an overnight lockdown and mandatory testing at Causeway Tower in Causeway Bay, suggesting a possible local classification if the infection is confirmed on Wednesday.
US sets global daily record of over 1 million Covid-19 cases
The 42-year-old Tuen Mun patient, who works in North Point and lives with his wife and daughter, had not visited the Omicron-hit Moon Palace restaurant in the Festival Walk shopping centre in Kowloon Tong or the mall. The restaurant cluster has now grown to six confirmed cases and one preliminary-positive infection. The man, who is unvaccinated, also had no recent travel history outside Hong Kong.
Au said the patient developed a headache and fever on Sunday. He visited a private clinic in Tuen Mun and took a deep-throat saliva test the following day, with a preliminary-positive result returned on Tuesday.
The test also included a positive result for the N501Y and T478K strains, which Au said indicated a high likelihood of Omicron. He had a low viral load at first, meaning he was less infectious, but a hospital test found it had increased, to a “CT value” of 18. Any number below 30 indicates a high degree of infectiousness.




Au said the man had been sent to North Lantau Infection Control Centre for treatment. An overnight lockdown and mandatory testing had also been ordered at his residential block.
“We are now investigating with full force his footprints in the last 21 days, to see if there are any links with other cases … This work is continuing as we have only received this case in the last few hours,” the official said.
Omicron cluster: get tested or face legal action, 6 Hong Kong diners warned
Health authorities also identified one more infection linked to the restaurant cluster among the preliminary cases. The patient is the 13-year-old daughter of an infected woman who had dined at Moon Palace. Both had earlier been sent to quarantine.
Au also confirmed that a citywide search for six remaining Moon Palace diners had ended after they were found by authorities and had tested negative. They would be sent to the government quarantine site at Penny’s Bay.




They were the last of 207 diners who had patronised the restaurant on December 27, the same day as an infected Cathay Pacific flight attendant who was found to have breached home isolation rules.
In West Kowloon, the M+ Museum said a preliminary-positive case had visited there on December 30 between 1pm and 4pm, adding it would close on Wednesday as staff had to go for testing.
Government pandemic adviser Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, meanwhile, said after an inspection and testing at Moon Palace on Tuesday that he did not support a rush to reimpose drastic social-distancing measures despite the untraceable case.
“We have to work that out slowly,” he said, pointing out that many aircrew members lived in Tuen Mun. At least two patients linked to the cluster stay in the district.

Yuen said air current tests conducted with smoke showed his earlier theory of airborne transmission remained the most likely explanation for the super-spreading event.
He said air flowed from the restaurant entrance to the rear, and exited through the kitchen. That meant virus particles exhaled by the maskless flight attendant, who was seated near the entrance, travelled through “cracks in the partitions” and even infected patrons seated far away at the back of VIP rooms.
Yuen also suspected an “air balancing” problem, as air purifying machines were installed near the ceiling – 4.1 metres high – meaning the ground level was not being provided with adequate air change.
Despite those flaws, Yuen said the many precautions taken by the restaurant including separate staff for serving meals and cleaning dirty tables had meant indirect transmission through environmental contamination such as water bottles was unlikely.




Yuen said such measures had kept the infection rate relatively low, at about 2 per cent, or six out of 207 patrons, compared with 30 per cent, or about 40 patients, in a previous super-spreading cluster at Mr Ming’s Chinese Dining in the K11 Musea shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.
“Our recommendation is for all Hong Kong citizens, if you are feeling unwell, please don’t dine out, because you may be shedding virus which can infect other people,” the University of Hong Kong microbiologist said.
“And this is exactly what happened in this case, this aircrew member actually had a headache, and also diarrhoea on the day when he went to this restaurant.”
Respiratory disease expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu said the untraceable case was a “dangerous signal” and could spark the beginning of a fifth wave of infections.
“We need to immediately tighten all our social-distancing measures, if we can detect these [new] cases and introduce social-distancing measures early, we can minimise transmissions,” he said.
Another government adviser, Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, also warned of possible clusters forming in Tuen Mun, but authorities needed time to complete genome sequencing and investigate the case first.
“If we can explain the chain of infection, then it’s not so worrying. But on the other hand, if it’s a totally unexplained community outbreak, then it’s very worrisome,” Hui said.
Covid-19 cluster in Hong Kong could delay travel scheme; Cathay fires 2 employees
Both Leung and Hui said schools might need to close and people would have to work from home as much as possible if the situation worsened.
In her morning remarks, Chief Executive Carrie Lam stressed there were no plans yet to further tighten social-distancing rules or suspend school operations. She said compulsory testing and other anti-pandemic measures had been effective so far.
Dr Gilman Siu Kit-hang, associate professor at Polytechnic University’s health, technology and informatics department, said Omicron infected and multiplied 70 times faster than the Delta variant, and the median incubation period was three days. Delta was four to five days.
“Covid-19 testing for arrivals or others should be done more regularly, almost every day, as Omicron is highly transmissive,” Siu told a radio show. “But the authorities can consider shortening the quarantine period from the current 21 days to 14 days, considering the Omicron variant usually can develop within seven days.”
Additional reporting by Rachel Yeo


Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first untraceable local case in nearly 3 months, ‘likely to be an Omicron infection’ and may indicate silent transmission chains in community

Hong Kong has not had a local untraceable case since early October. Photo: Felix Wong

Professor Yuen Kwok-yung (in light-coloured jacket) inspects the Moon Palace restaurant. Photo: May Tse

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment


Preliminary-positive case is 42-year-old resident of Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun, officials reveal
Man had not visited any high-risk places or been in contact with other confirmed patients



Preliminary-positive case is a 42-year-old resident of Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun, officials reveal.


Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Coronavirus Hong Kong

Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first untraceable local case in nearly 3 months, ‘likely to be an Omicron infection’ and may indicate silent transmission chains in community

Preliminary-positive case is 42-year-old resident of Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun, officials reveal Man had not visited any high-risk places or been in contact with other confirmed patients

Preliminary-positive case is 42-year-old resident of Tsui Ning Garden in Tuen Mun, officials reveal

Man had not visited any high-risk places or been in contact with other confirmed patients