HK Reports Fifth Omicron Infection

Hong Kong on Friday recorded its fifth case of the Omicron coronavirus infection.

The patient is a 37-year-old man who arrived from the United States on Tuesday and tested positive at the airport.

It was listed as one of the confirmed cases on Thursday, and genome sequencing showed that he was carrying the Omicron variant.

Health officials also reported four new imported Covid cases, with the patients aged between 15 and 57.

Three of them had arrived on the same flight from Vietnam, prompting the authorities to ban Cathay Pacific passenger flights from Ho Chi Minh City until December 23.

One of them is a 57-year-old man who lives at Block 16 of Baguio Villa in Pok Fu Lam. Residents there will be required to be tested.

The remaining case on Friday flew in from the UK.

At least three of the latest patients were infected with mutant strains.