Jordan Housing Block Outbreak Is Worrying: Officials

Health officials say they will send experts to investigate a Covid-19 outbreak at Kensington Plaza in Jordan, after residents in several flats there came down with the coronavirus.

This came as Hong Kong reported 61 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, 55 of them locally acquired. Twenty-six of them were untraceable.

There were also more than 50 preliminary positive cases.

Of Friday's local infections, 24 of them involved residents who live in the Yau Tsim Mong district, where an outbreak is ongoing.

The Centre for Health Protection’s Chuang Shuk-kwan said the situation at Kensington Plaza on Parkes Street is particularly worrying, after residents of four units – all of them facing the same direction – became infected. A fifth unit facing another direction was also affected.

Chuang said a total of 10 residents from the building have now come down with the virus, and experts will investigate whether there’s vertical transmission in the building.

“Because there is a significant vertical distribution of the cases, there’s a site visit planned today to see whether there are any factors that may facilitate the transmission,” she said, adding that depending on the experts’ findings, other residents from the building may have to be sent to quarantine.

Meanwhile, residents of several more residential blocks in the Yau Tsim Mong area have been ordered to undergo mandatory testing after at least one confirmed case was reported from each of the buildings.

Mandatory testing orders have also been issued for four residential blocks in Tseung Kwan O, Yuen Long and Chai Wan.