Covid Cases Found At AsiaWorld-Expo, Public Estate

Health officials have moved around 100 people who were being quarantined at Asia World Expo into different halls, after a worker at the temporary treatment facility was confirmed as having Covid-19.

Two other staff members tested preliminary positive. Officials said the three worked in Halls 5 and 7 and had been in contact with people undergoing quarantine.

Albert Au, a principal medical and health officer at the Centre for Health Protection, said other workers from the same halls would have to be tested.

“I think the risk of outbreak among the care workers in this quarantine site is low, because all the staff have worn adequate PPE [Personal Protective Equipment]. After this incident, we will enhance the infection control training for the care staff and enhance other infection-control measures”, he said.

Meanwhile, health officials also reported an outbreak at a public housing estate in Kwai Chung.

They said 12 residents from five different families who were living on the same floor of a block in Kwai Shing West Estate were confirmed as having the virus.

Officials said they believed the environment there may have been contaminated.

Au said all residents in the same block would be given specimen bottles for them to submit their samples for testing, but they won’t be evacuated as there is no “vertical transmission”.

“We have liaised with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to conduct a thorough disinfection of the building, and liaised with the Buildings Department to conduct some investigation to see if there are other factors that will lead to the outbreak there.”

Meanwhile, health authorities say they are unable to identify the owner of a saliva sample which tested positive, saying the person’s information was not uploaded onto the system, and they are looking into how this happened.

Au called on anyone who got tested at Henry G. Leong Yaumatei Community Centre on the morning of December 4 to do so again, if they haven’t been notified by SMS of a negative result.

The city reported 95 cases on Sunday, including 87 local cases, 36 of which were untraceable.

Among the linked cases, 18 relate to a dance cluster which involves hundreds of people, and nine relate to a Lohas Park construction site cluster, which has 45 cases.

Earlier, the Hong Kong Police Force said a 54-year-old officer posted at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court tested positive for Covid-19. He attended a medical clinic on Thursday and was last at work on Friday.

The Airport Authority has also said a family member of a security staff member has contracted Covid-19.