At Least Four People Linked To Tin Hau Eatery Cluster

Health authorities said a surveyor who tested positive for the Omicron variant had eaten at a cha chaan teng in Tin Hau at the same time as a mother of a Cathay Pacific flight attendant confirmed with the virus earlier.

After inspecting the eatery on Gordon Road on Wednesday, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said the ventilation there was poor when they had breakfast there on December 31, with a system to bring fresh air in not turned on.

"Identifying the source of infection of this surveyor is an important finding. It means Hong Kong doesn't have any unlinked cases yet because we now know the surveyor came into contact with someone who's linked to the flight attendant," Yuen said.

Health officials said the woman, 62, who is unvaccinated and carries a high viral load, also danced with more than 20 people at Victoria Park every morning during her incubation period.

Authorities said six new Covid cases may now be linked to the woman. In addition to the surveyor who lives in Tuen Mun and works in North Point, she might have infected five people who tested preliminary positive on Wednesday: two friends she had breakfast with at the cha chaan teng in Tin Hau on December 31; the husband of one of them; one of her friends in the dance group; and a helper she had met.

Meanwhile, a 13-year-old girl who dined at the Moon Palace restaurant, the centre of another Omicron outbreak, has been confirmed with the infection.

There is also one more preliminary positive case linked to this restaurant cluster.

In all, the Centre for Health Protection reported 38 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, all but four are imported.