No Cases Found In Overnight Lockdowns

The authorities on Friday announced that no confirmed cases of Covid-19 were found during overnight lockdowns in Shek Kip Mei and Kennedy Town.

The lockdowns took place as officials investigate two suspected cases of local transmission of the Omicron coronavirus variant linked to a Cathay Pacific aircrew member who recently returned from the United States.

The government said that as of 1am, 916 people had been tested at Wing Chak House of Chak On Estate in Shek Kip Mei and there were no confirmed cases.

As of 1.30am, around 195 residents in Block A, Hoi Tao Building in Kennedy Town had been tested, and all results came back negative.

The government on Thursday reported that a 76-year-old family member of the aircrew had tested preliminary positive for the virus after eating lunch with him at a Chinese restaurant in the Festival Walk shopping mall in Kowloon Tong.

The 44-year-old aircrew member returned to Hong Kong on Christmas Day and had lunch with his family at the restaurant, Moon Palace, on December 27.

He was confirmed with the variant on Wednesday.

The 76-year-old lives in Wing Chak House.

A 34-year-old construction worker, who had lunch at the restaurant around the same time, also tested preliminary positive for the virus. He lives in a village house in Tuen Mun.

Meanwhile, another Cathay Pacific aircrew member – who returned to Hong Kong from the United States on Christmas Day - has also tested preliminary positive for the virus. He lives in Block A of Hoi Tao Building.

The 47-year-old man had been triple jabbed with the BioNTech vaccine.

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