Two Nurses Test Preliminary Positive For Covid

Two nurses who worked at the same clinics in Tuen Mun have tested preliminary positive for Covid-19 and officials are investigating if there was silent transmission there.

They were among fewer than 10 preliminary-positive cases reported by health authorities on Thursday.

Officials also said it's too early to determine if the latest outbreak has been contained.

Officials said one of the infected nurses, 21, works part-time in the clinics, and is a nursing student at Baptist University's School of Continuing Education.

Those who attended classes with her will need to get tested. Baptist University said she attended classes on its Kowloon Tong campus from Monday to Wednesday.

Health authorities said the student nurse was with a doctor who examined a patient at the Gold Coast clinic on January 3.

The patient has since tested positive for the Omicron variant. His father runs a pharmacy in Tuen Mun and was believed to be infected when a Cathay Pacific flight attendant visited the shop on December 27.

The student nurse also worked at other clinics in Tuen Mun under the same medical group for several more days.

Another nurse, 22, who works at the clinics, also tested preliminary positive, though they worked different shifts.

"One of the nurses is a part-time nurse who accompanied the doctor to see one of the cases confirmed earlier, on January 3. We consider that incident may be the likely source of infection for that nurse," said Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection.

"As for how the second nurse got infected, it's possible that there was some silent transmission in the clinic setting... Both nurses worked at more than one clinic. That's why we have to check when the other staff had contact with them during that period of time."

People who worked at the same time with the two nurses will need to be quarantined as a result, Chuang said.

The centre confirmed 14 Covid infections for the day, five of them local cases.

Chuang also said authorities were looking for 44 customers who visited the Nabe Urawa Japanese restaurant at Hysan Place on January 4. Authorities fear they might have been exposed to the virus after a university student who ate there was infected.

With fewer than 10 preliminary cases being reported, Chuang was asked if the latest outbreak in the community had been contained.

"It is still a bit early to say whether the outbreak has been contained, with the discovery of the recent linked cases... They are detected in the community, so they had spent some time in the community and that would also cause some transmission," Chuang said.

______________________________