Mui Wo Hotel Cluster Raises Concern Over Staycations

A health expert has spoken about the risks of staycations at local hotels after authorities reported a cluster of Covid-19 infections linked to a group who stayed at a Mui Wo hotel, warning that these could become "super-spreading" cases.

Half of the six new coronavirus cases reported in Hong Kong on Monday came from the cluster involving a group who stayed at the Seaview Holiday Resort between Sunday and Tuesday last week.

A 26-year-old woman developed a fever on Wednesday. Another member of the group of eight people, a 26-year-old man, developed a cough and runny nose on Friday.

A 15-year-old boy, a relative of the woman who was not part of the group, met her in a separate gathering last Tuesday and developed a cough on Saturday. The school in Fanling that he attends has been shut for two weeks for thorough disinfection.

A specialist in respiratory medicine, Dr Leung Chi-chiu, said people, especially those with an active social life, should be concerned about the possible spread of the virus for those on staycation at local hotels.

“If they have a very extensive social connection and engage in a lot of social activities with too many potential cross-transmission links, all these gatherings inside the hotel may greatly increase the risk of not only cross-transmission within people attending all these staycation functions, but that may also pose danger to the hotel staff,” he said.

“If there is an outbreak inside the hotel, that may affect other customers, that may cause a super-spreading event. We need to take care,” he said.

The Centre for Health Protection says it will distribute bottles to collect samples from the patients’ neighbours, colleagues and schoolmates, as well as staff and residents of the hotel, for Covid-19 tests.

There were also three imported cases on Monday, involving people who flew in from Russia, Indonesia and Pakistan.