Discovery Bay Construction Workers Under Quarantine

Ten workers at a construction site in Discovery Bay were being put under quarantine on Tuesday after one of their colleagues tested positive for Covid-19.

The case involving the 64-year-old man was one of 12 new coronavirus cases announced by health authorities.

It's also the only one out of nine new locally-acquired infections in which the source could not be determined.

The group worked at the construction site at Discovery College from August 17 to 20. The 64-year-old, who lives in Yuen Long, fell ill on August 21.

"They did not share meals, but the ventilation in that construction site was not very good," Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said. "Their work was quite intense, so we consider the other workers in hat construction site as close contacts."

And as the universal voluntary coronavirus testing scheme got under way, Chuang said officials are ready to handle anyone testing positive.

She said participants would be notified on Wednesday at the earliest if their results came back positive, and the centre would start tracing their contacts immediately.

The Hospital Authority is making more than 2,000 beds available for new coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has reported its 90th death linked to Covid-19.

The patient was a 66-year-old woman who had fallen ill at the end of July.