By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The baby and his parents gathered with 3 other variant patients in this building |
The South African variant of the coronavirus found in a cluster outbreak that began with an Indian engineer from Dubai has infected a four-month-old nephew of the man’s Filipina girlfriend, bringing to 11 the confirmed cases in that bunch.
The baby was the only local case among today’s four new infection
that include a Russian cabin crew aged 55, an Indian woman aged 29, and an
Indonesian female domestic helper aged 40.
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He is said to be the youngest person in Hong Kong found to carry the variant feared to be far more contagious than the regular strain.
The baby is a son of the older brother of Victoria Marie Guadiz, the 31-year-old girlfriend of Indian engineer Syed Mohamed Rizvi, 30.
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A staff of the Information Services Department said the baby was carrying both the N501Y and E484K strains of the virus.
The Centre for Health Protection had said in earlier updates that the baby’s father (case number 11815) and mother (11816) attended a family gathering on Apr 13 with Guadiz (11672) and her boyfriend (11643) in a flat at Fung Hing House in Chai Wan.
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The occupant of the Chai Wan flat is the baby’s 67-year-old
grandmother (11800), who herself was confirmed to be infected by the variant on
May 7.
The 42-year-old father was confirmed positive on May 12 while the 40-year-old mother turned positive the next day, the CHP said.
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The couple subsequently hosted another gathering at 37 Fuk Wing St in Sham Shui Po on Apr 18 that was attended by three Filipina domestic helpers (11773, 11793 and 11797) who were confirmed earlier as carriers of the N501Y mutant strain.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sophia Chan has said that the authorities are stepping up contract tracing in hopes of finding the source of infection of the 4-year-old boy who was reported to have Covid-19 yesterday, the first local case with an unknown source in a week.
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About two dozen of his classmates and teachers had to be sent to a quarantine hotel after his infection was uncovered.
Chan said mandatory testing will be imposed on places where the boy had been to and stayed at. Initial investigations showed he only went to his school in Shek Kip Mei and had a meal with family members.
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| One of the 3 new imported cases tested positive for the L452R variant |
The ISD staff said that among today’s imported cases was the Russian air crew who arrived on May 14 via AirBridgeCargo Airlines flight RU531 from Moscow. The result of his laboratory test for variant type is still pending, the staff said.
Another case involves a woman who flew in on Apr 18 from Delhi on Vistara UK6395, and was found to carry the newly identified L452R variant.
According to the CHP, the woman is the mother of a 9-month-old baby girl who was earlier confirmed as a Covid-19 case and went to hospital on Apr 27. The mother got herself admitted so she could take care of the baby.
After the baby was discharged on May 7, both of them went to quarantine again. The mother was tested a few times before her sample tested positive on May 15 at the quarantine camp.
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The third imported case, the Indonesian helper, arrived on Cathay Pacific CX2780 from Surabaya on May 7 and stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Causeway Bay. She tested positive for Covid-19 on her 7th day test while in hotel quarantine.
Today’s new cases brought the caseload in Hong Kong so far to 11,825.
The Hospital Authority said 56 confirmed patients are being treated in 15 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre. Two patients are in critical condition, one is serious and the remaining 53 patients are stable.
