The SUN HK : 30 preliminary cases caused by lab contamination, expert says

By Vir B. Lumicao

Yuen (center) says lab technicians mixed up 2 positive samples with 28 negative ones

Contamination of samples in a laboratory that is testing people’s specimen for the coronavirus was discovered to be responsible for the unusually large number of 30 preliminary positive cases reported today.

The contamination was reported by University of Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, an adviser to the administration, who was asked by the government to inspect the laboratory.

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This evening, Yuen reported that two positive samples were believed to have contaminated the other 28 undiagnosed samples in the laboratory.

Early on, Dr Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection said in a press briefing that there were 30 preliminary positive cases, all tested by BGI. Nine of the patients were in quarantine at Ramada Hong Kong Grand and 21 others tested at local community testing centers.

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Au said all 30 patients had been admitted to hospitals for isolation, but nine subsequently tested negative. He said it was unusual that a big number of cases tested positive in one laboratory with a high viral load and no epidemiological links.

“I have to say that this is a bit unusual. Because there were 30 cases from the same lab on the same day, so this is a bit strange,” he said.

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“There are two possibilities. The first is that some of these cases are true positive cases, and there is silent transmission or even outbreak in the community which had not been detected before,” he said.

Today, 14 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Hong Kong, including two local cases with unknown sources and eight passengers from India, three of whom tested positive for the mutated virus.

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The seven men and seven women with ages from 14 to 56 took the total tally of infected cases in Hong Kong to 11,719.

Eight of the new cases were passengers from India, seven of whom arrived on Air India Flight 1314 on Apr 9 and tested positive on their 12^th day of quarantine in various hotels.

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A man from Turkey who arrived on Apr 12 tested positive of the N501Y variant, which health officials said is 70 times more infectious than the original Covid-19 virus.

The other imported cases were two men from Kathmandu who arrived on Apr 20 via Nepal Airlines flight RA490, and a woman from Pakistan who flew in on Apr 9 and tested positive on the 12^th day of her hotel quarantine.

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Au said that altogether, there are 235 cases with the N501Y variant, 95 of whom carried the UK strain, 32 South African strain and dozens with the P253 strain. The remaining 20 cannot be classified because of their low virus load.

One of the local cases today involves a 19-year-old man who lives in San Bik House, San Wai Court in Tuen Mun and works at Wang Kee & Co at Kwai Chung Container Terminal.

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The man had only two to three close contacts with whom he shared the rest lounge during meals, as his main task in the firm was to input container data into the computer, Au said.

He said the man visited restaurants in Tuen Mun Plaza, a ramen soup shop and went to On Ting Market. On Apr 20, he went to Tsun King Leung King Plaza and other eateries in Tuen Mun and Kwai Chung.

The infected teacher holds 2 classes at this kindergarten

The second local case is a woman aged 31 who lives in Block 4 of Metro City Phase 1 in Tseung Kwan O. She taught students in two classes at Greenfield English International Kindergarten in Lohas Park on Apr 20 before she developed fever and cough.

Au said during the incubation period, the woman visited a friend at Hang Hau Village. She also went to a fitness center and a parlor for facial care in Hang Hau then went to a wedding expo in Wan Chai. She also attended a yoga class in Kwun Tong.

Undersecretary for Food and Health Dr. Chui Tak-yi, who joined the briefing, said meanwhile that the first batch of 291 Hong Kong residents who were stranded in Britain arrived on a chartered flight at dawn today.

They all tested negative for Covid-19 and were sent to Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi for compulsory virus testing and quarantine for 21 days.

Reviewing data in the past two weeks, Chui reported 165 Covid-19 cases comprising 128 imported and 37 local cases. There were 15 cases with unknown sources, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Linda Yu from the Hospital Authority 149 confirmed patients are being treated in 17 public hospitals and at North Lantau Hospital infection control centre.Three patients are in critical condition, three are serious and the remaining 143 patients stable.