Covid Cluster Emerges At Another Housing Block

Health officials on Friday ordered some people living in a private residential building in Tsuen Wan to be put under quarantine after a cluster of coronavirus cases emerged there.

Six residents from four different units on the 18th floor of Block R at Luk Yeung Sun Chuen have either been confirmed to be infected or have tested preliminary positive.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said the virus might have been spread via communal facilities. Residents living in the remaining four flats on the same floor are to be evacuated.

“We suspect there may be some earlier transmission when the cases were staying there through, for example, the lift lobby and the common corridor and also maybe the rubbish store,” she said.

“After the confirmation of the first case, we’ve advised thorough disinfection. But we found that there’s some clustering of the cases on that floor, so as a precautionary measure, we’ll arrange all the residents in the other four units to stay in the quarantine camp because they might have been exposed to the similar risks as the other cases.”

This comes as authorities reported 50 new coronavirus infections on Friday, all but two locally acquired.

Eleven patients live in Kowloon City, seven in Yau Tsim Mong and three in Sham Shui Po.

Officials were unable to trace the source of 16 of the infections.

More than 30 other people, meanwhile, tested preliminary positive for the virus.

Clusters of infections have also appeared at some workplaces.

Chuang reported that there was a small Covid outbreak at the serviced apartments, Harbourfront Horizon, in Hung Hom. Five security guards and a repairman have come down with the disease. Dozens of staff have been put under quarantine.

Meanwhile, all workers at a construction site at Kwong Wah Hospital are required to get tested for Covid after five earlier infections there.