By The SUN
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| The FDH was confirmed to carry a mutant strain 7 days after ending her quarantine |
Health experts are calling on the government to review its quarantine policy for vaccinated travelers after a foreign domestic helper who flew in from the United States and quarantined for only seven days, was confirmed to carry the L452R mutant strain after ending her isolation.
The 38-year-old FDH, who was fully vaccinated in Hong Kong, was confirmed as one of two new imported cases Saturday. The other is a fully vaccinated 56-year-old man who also flew in from the United States.
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Infectious disease expert Prof David Hui from Chinese University said in a radio interview that the helper’s case showed that a seven-day quarantine is not enough, even for vaccinated travelers. It should be at least 14 days, with another week of self-monitoring.
He said an expert panel that advises the government on the pandemic of which he is a member, will discuss the case on Monday
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| Hui says an expert panel on the pandemic will discuss the case Monday (file) |
Another expert, Leung Chi-chiu, agreed that the quarantine rules should be tightened immediately.
Leung also wondered why the US was classified as a medium-risk country when it has the same infection rate as the United Kingdom which is under the high-risk category, for which the quarantine period for vaccinated travelers is 21 days.
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“There’s absolutely no basis to classify the two countries differently,” he was reported as saying.
Meanwhile, some observers have expressed surprise that the helper who lives with her employers in Stanley, was able to quarantine for only seven days when only those found to have antibodies in tests conducted in Hong Kong, are given this privilege.
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CHP said the helper left for the US on Jun 18, long before Hong Kong announced in late July that residents can get themselves tested for antibodies before leaving for abroad in order to qualify for the shortened quarantine.
She was given two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Apr 7 and 28.
Before boarding her flight in Los Angeles, she tested negative for Covid-19, and again on arrival in Hong Kong.
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In line with health protocols she submitted a specimen for testing 12 days after arrival and it tested preliminary positive Friday for Covid-19. Further tests showed the presence of the L452R mutation.
As a result, several places that she had visited after leaving quarantine, including the FDH section of Immigration Tower in Wanchai, as well as Stanley Plaza, were put under compulsory testing notice.
Anyone who had been to these places were ordered to get tested before Aug 15.
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Health Department staff would not say, however, how many close contacts of the helper had been identified, and whether anyone had been moved to a quarantine center as a result.
“Our epidemiological investigation and contact tracing is continuing,” said the staff member.
The new infections raised Hong Kong’s Covid-19 tally to 12,032 cases.
