By Daisy CL Mandap
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| A gathering in this Shamshuipo building was attended by the 3 Filipina DHs |
Health authorities have uncovered
a direct link between an Indian returnee from Dubai who was identified as the first
local case with the N501Y variant of the coronavirus, and three Filipina
domestic workers recently found to also carry the mutant strain.
According to a press statement issued by the Centre for Health Protection on Wednesday night, two separate family gatherings appeared to have spread the variant among the index patient, his Filipina girlfriend, and the three Filipina DHs.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Extensive contact tracing reportedly showed that the man who ended his 21-day hotel quarantine on Apr 9 (case no 11643) and his girlfriend who he apparently infected (11672) joined the woman’s family at a gathering on Apr 13 at Fung Hing House of Hing Wah Estate in Chai Wan.
On Apr 18, a Sunday, three of the guests at the Chai Wan gathering had another party at their home at 37 Fuk Wing Street in Sham Shui Po. Present at the gathering were cases 11773 (the FDH who lives in Caribbean Coast, Tung Chung); 11793 (who lives in Kornhill Garden, Quarry Bay) and 11797 (lives in Royalton, Pokfulam).
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
Following this discovery, the CHP sent everyone who attended both gatherings to a quarantine center.
Everyone who stayed at the Sham Shui Po building from Apr 15 to May 5 have been told to undergo undergo compulsory testing before May 7.
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As a compulsory testing order was issued on May 3 to residents of Fung Hing House due to the result of a sewage sample test, people who had stayed in the building from Apr 30 to May 3 will also have to undergo testing by May 6.
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| The Citygate Outlet mall was originally thought of as the link between the cases |
The same order was issued to the workplaces of two guests at the gathering: Urban Bakery Works at Shop 322, 3/F, Landmark Atrium and Oliver's the Delicatessen at Shop 201-2, 2/F, Landmark Prince's. Everyone who had visited either of these places from Apr 15 to May 5 should undergo testing by May 7.
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Because of the latest findings, cases 11773 and 11793 have been reclassified as local cases linked to previous infections.
The first, which involves a 39-year-old Filipina living in Tung Chung, had previously been described as the first local case of a variant carrier with an unknown source.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love. |
The second, pertaining to the 46-year-old Filipina living in Kornhill Garden, was also classified as local with an unknown source. Her 38-year-old friend from Pokfulam, case no 11797, was linked to her.
The
index case in the cluster is a 29-year-old Indian man who arrived in Hong Kong on
Mar 19 from Dubai. He tested negative during his 21-day hotel quarantine, and went
on to live with his girlfriend in Parkes Building in Jordan.
He was
found to carry the South African variant after he got himself tested on Apr 14, in
preparation for his return to Dubai.
Coincidentally, he and his girlfriend had visited Citygate Outlet mall in Tung Chung on the same day that the Filipina living in Caribbean Coast was there, leading investigators to initially believe the infection happened there.
More details of the Indian man’s whereabouts during the incubation period came out after investigations showed his variant had exactly the same genetic sequencing as that found in his girlfriend and the Filipina in Tung Chung.
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