HK reports 13 new Covid-19 cases, 10 of them imported

By Vir B. Lumicao 

8 of the 10 new imported cases carried the highly infections coronavirus variant

Thirteen new coronavirus infections were reported in Hong Kong today, Apr. 13. Ten of them are imported cases, with all but two carrying the highly infectious N501Y variant, Hong Kong health officials said.

 The variant carriers included two Filipina domestic workers who tested positive on their 12^th day in hotel quarantine.

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Of the three local cases, one had an untraceable infection source, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said in a press briefing.

Among the imported cases, only two Indonesian domestic workers aged 39 and 31 who arrived on Apr 11 on a Garuda GR 980 flight from Jakarta did not have the coronavirus variant, Chuang said.

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The CHP official said the Filipinas, aged 43 and 45, both arrived on a Cathay Pacific CX906 flight on Mar 31. They tested positive on their second test, and were later also found to have the mutated version of the disease.

The other recent arrivals found to have the variant strain were four returnees from Pakistan, one from India, and another from Japan.

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There are now 210 cases with the mutated virus that have been detected in Hong Kong, of which 79 are British variants, 22 South African variants, and the rest unclassified.

Chuang said today’s local cases were a 55-year-old housewife who lives in Block 2, Lido Garden, Sham Tseng. She visited various locations in Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun before falling ill.

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Two family members were also infected, so the rest of her household were quarantined.

The infected woman visited many places during the incubation period, including this market in Tsuen Wan

The woman went to Yeung Uk Road Market and Citywalk in Tsuen Wan during Ching Ming Festival. Then she ate at Pastaholic on the second floor of The Trend Plaza North Wing in Tuen Mun. She also visited the Toys R Us and Uniqlo shops on the second floor of Tuen Mun Town Plaza.

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The woman also went grave-sweeping in Tseung Kwan O with eight family members on Apr 3, but Chuang said other people who were there at the same time need not worry about having caught the virus if they paid attention to personal hygiene.

“I do not think grave-sweeping itself will pose risks to the spread of Covid, if people put on masks,” she said, noting that if some grave-sweepers take off their masks and share food after sweeping, they may pose risks to others nearby.

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The latest cases comprising four men and nine women aged 12 to 55 years old took to 11,608 the total tally of infected patients in Hong Kong.

As of 9am today, 130 confirmed patients are being treated in 20 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, the Hospital Authority said. Seven patients are in critical condition, two are serious and the remaining 121 patients stable.

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Meanwhile, a second shipment of about 300,000 doses of the BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hong Kong from Germany today.

The shipment was subjected to stringent checking and inspection by staff to ensure that it complies with the product specifications and the transportation follows the cold-chain requirements.

The government will put the vaccine in ultra-low temperature freezers in compliance with storage requirements specified by the drug manufacturer.

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