HK Reports 259 New Covid Cases, New Cluster Emerges

Health authorities on Sunday said they recorded 259 new Covid infections, as officials reported a new cluster had emerged.

Officials said nine people who visited a private kitchen in Shing Yip industrial building in Kwun Tong on May 9 have come down with the disease.

The Centre for Health Protection's Chuang Shuk-kwan said they are investigating the outbreak, and that some of the patients had only stayed there for a short period to buy biscuits and frozen meat.

She said compulsory testing notices will be served to those who visited the venue after 5pm on May 9.

"People have told us they only stayed for around 10 minutes and left after picking up some stuff. We need to conduct further investigations to find out if people had taken off their masks for meals," she said.

Chuang also said officials had taken some environmental samples from the restaurant for testing.

Meanwhile, health officials said the cluster of Covid-19 infections linked to the Sky Cuisine restaurant in Sheung Wan has grown. She said another four staff and seven diners had contracted the disease, taking the total to 52.

When asked if Hong Kong is close to a new wave of infections, Chuang said it's likely cases will rebound as people who were not infected previously started going out again after social distancing measures were relaxed.

She hopes there will not be a major outbreak and called on people take the time to get vaccinated as there are still hundreds of undiscovered transmission chains in the community.

Officials also said 33 of the cases were imported. They reported one new death, involving an 82-year-old woman who had been double-jabbed.

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