Mass Covid Testing For Mong Kok Clothing Shop Staff

Health officials on Tuesday ordered 80 staff at a clothing shop in Mong Kok to undergo Covid-19 tests after three employees tested positive.

Authorities said the three staff members of Uniqlo in Langham Place had a private gathering with eight other friends last Thursday. About half of those present have come down with the virus.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said officials have so far failed to identify the source of infection.

She said more than 20 full-time and 50 part-time staff at the Uniqlo store would be required to get tested for Covid.

“The exact source of infection, just like other unlinked local cases... we do not know yet. We suspect the gathering may be the cause of the spread of infections among the friends. But as three of them work in the same workplace, either full-time or part-time, there's still a possibility that there's some silent transmission in the workplace. So we advise all the workers there to undergo testing," she said.

Chuang said the shop had been closed for thorough disinfection, adding that it’s unlikely that customers would be infected.

Still, she encouraged them to get tested if they are worried or have developed symptoms.

Health authorities reported 25 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, all but one locally acquired. Four of the cases have no clear source.

Five infections are linked to a Covid outbreak at a construction site of the airport’s third runway.

More than 20 others have tested preliminary positive for the virus, including a worker at an elderly care home in Shek Kip Mei.

Two residents there have been confirmed with the infection so far, forcing 100 residents and 70 staff into quarantine.