HK tightens hotel quarantine rules as 8 more Omicron cases detected

By The SUN 

Hotel occupants of a room beside or across the one used by an Omicron patient will be tested daily

The Centre for Health Protection has tightened anti-epidemic measures in designated quarantine hotels after eight new Omicron cases were found today, comprising nearly all new arrivals in Hong Kong whose infections were reported on Dec 19 and 20.

Because of the increasing risk posed by Omicron, the CHP said today, Dec 21, that it will further tighten contact tracing and inbound control measures in the city.

The new measures will include requiring daily testing for those who have stayed in rooms adjacent to or opposite the one occupied by an Omicron case in designated quarantine hotels.

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Those who had already completed their compulsory quarantine at the hotel will be asked to undergo additional testing as soon as possible and to avoid group gathering until they complete seven days of medical surveillance.

In addition, the CHP will ensure that staff at the DQHs, who are all required to be fully vaccinated, to have received regular testing. The hotels will also be reminded to step up  ventilation and infection control measures.

Yesterday, the CHP ordered that all inbound travelers must get a negative result for a Covid-19 test conducted 48 hours before departure, instead of the previous 72 hours.

It also tightened the flight suspension mechanism with immediate effect, by mandating that if four or more passengers are confirmed with Covid-19 upon arrival in Hong Kong from the same flight within seven days, that route will be suspended for 14 days.

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The United Kingdom was also added to the Group A+ countries because of the high number of travelers from there who have tested positive for Omicron after arriving in Hong Kong.

But at the same time, all new arrivals from countries in this category will only need to stay for four days at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre before being allowed to move to their hotels for the remaining 17 days of compulsory isolation.

While at Penny’s Bay, all travelers will be tested daily.

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The new Omicron cases were mostly new arrivals from the UK and other countries in Europe and Africa, while the rest came from the United States and India. They comprised six males and two females aged between 20 and 68. They were all fully vaccinated.

Five tested positive for the new variant of concern while staying at quarantine hotels, and two on their arrival at the airport.

They raised to 27 the total number of Omicron cases in Hong Kong.

7 of 8 new Covid-19 cases carry the mutant strain linked to Omicron

The number is likely to rise, as seven of the eight new coronavirus cases reported today also carried the N501Y mutant strain linked to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Only one of the imported cases was found to carry the L452R strain commonly linked to the Delta variant.

They comprise seven males and one female aged 11 to 61.

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Three of the new patients arrived in Hong Kong from the United Kingdom and United States, two Group A specified places (high-risk) with enhanced surveillance.

A man aged 29 and a woman aged 54 arrived via CX252 from London and CX881 from Los Angeles, respectively, on Dec 19 and tested positive on arrival at the airport.

The CHP said the woman, who lives in Block 18A, Serenity Villa in Tai Po, tested negative in Hong Kong on Dec 15 and traveled to the US the next day. She returned to Hong Kong on Dec 19 via flight CX881 and tested positive on arrival.

The patient is asymptomatic and with a Ct value below 30. The places where she lived and visited in Hong Kong during the incubation period were included in a compulsory testing notice on Dec 19.

Four of today’s new patients flew into Hong Kong from Ghana, the United Kingdom and Germany on Dec 15, 17 and 19 via Qatar Airways flight Q818 originating in Doha.

Including a man who arrived via flight Q818 on Dec 14, they triggered a government ban on all Qatar Airways flights from Doha effective Dec 22 until Jan 4, 2022.

Another man aged 61 arrived from London on Dec 15 via Doha on QR818 and tested positive during quarantine at Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City.

The other cases included two 44-year-old men from Ghana who arrived via Doha on QR818 on Dec 19 and Dec 17; a male air crew aged 37 who arrived from Austria via London and Dubai on EK384 on Dec 19; a boy of 11 who flew in from Germany via QR818 on the same day, and a 23-year-old man who came from Pakistan on flight EK384 via Dubai on Dec 8.

Five patients tested positive upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport and the remaining three were found positive during quarantine.

A total of 67 cases have been reported in the past 14 days to Dec 20. All of them are imported cases.

The Hospital Authority said that as of 9am today, a total of 101 confirmed patients were confined in the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre and the HA Infectious Disease Centre.

Among those patients, one is in serious condition while the rest are in stable condition.

​Epidemiological investigations and relevant contact tracing on the confirmed cases are ongoing, the CHP said. For case details and contact tracing information, please see the Annex or the “COVID-19 Thematic Website” (www.coronavirus.gov.hk).