A Doctor, Two Nurses Infected At Birthday Gathering

Health authorities on Friday reported a cluster of coronavirus infections involving three public hospital staff who attended a birthday party.

They are a doctor and two nurses who are from the same family and work at three different public hospitals.

A nurse at Kowloon Hospital was the first to test positive. His brother and sister-in-law, who's a doctor at Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and a nurse at Tung Wah Hospital, were subsequently infected.

They are believed to be infected at a birthday gathering attended by 10 people last Sunday.

A chief manager with the Hospital Authority, Dr Linda Yu, urged hospital workers to maintain social distancing to avoid catching the virus.

She said the authority is testing colleagues and patients with whom the three infected workers came into contact.

“We understand that throughout this year, the public will feel a bit relaxed or a bit fatigued because it is quite a longstanding fight against Covid,” she said.

“But we understand that recently the community spread is quite severe, so we’ll remind our staff to be more vigilant because apart from affecting them and their families, they will also affect their colleagues and also the patients.

"So, we appeal to our staff to remain vigilant and refrain from social gathering."

There is also a cluster of coronavirus infections linked to a music studio in San Po Kong after a teacher, five students and four of their close contacts came down with Covid-19 recently.

The five were senior citizens attending singing lessons at Billy Sir Classroom.

Authorities reported 70 new coronavirus cases on Friday. Sixty-four infections are locally acquired, 25 via unknown sources.

More than 70 people have tested preliminary positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority reported two more coronavirus deaths. The two male patients were aged 84 and 85.

Hong Kong has so far reported 128 deaths related to Covid-19.