Hong Kong reports 140 new human cases of Covid-19 and one from a surrendered hamster

Hong Kong saw 140 new Covid-19 cases on January 23, 2022, its highest daily increase since July 2020. The majority came from a Kwai Chung public housing estate, which has become the epicentre of the city’s fifth wave of infections.  All of the residents have been issued compulsory testing orders with two buildings in the housing estate placed under a five-day lockdown, while four others were sealed off for 24 hours. Only 17 of the 140 daily cases detected on January 23 were found outside the housing estate, including a cleaner and a nurse working in several elderly homes. Meanwhile 13 others were traced to a Delta variant cluster linked to local pet shops that later prompted a government cull of over 2,000 hamsters.