By Daisy CL Mandap
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| 69 of today's confirmed cases were from locked-down housing blocks in Kwai Chung |
The Omicron surge in
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said about 100 preliminary positive cases have also been detected, with two housing blocks in Kwai Chung estate on their third and second day of a five-day lockdown.
Chuang said that of the local confirmed cases, 69 were found in several housing blocks in the estate: 27 were linked to Yat Kwai House, 33 to Ying Kwai House, while nine were from eight other buildings.
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| About 6,000 residents of Kwai Chung Estate are tested daily while on 5-day lockdowns |
A cluster of cases were also detected in other parts of
A possible vertical or upward transmission at a Wong Tai Sin
block is also being investigated. At least three cases have been detected in
block 1 of
All of these cases involved mutant strains of the Delta variant, and Chuang said there was a report that one of the patients had recently bought a hamster.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The government has recently ordered all owners of hamsters bought after Dec 22 to surrender them as part of the mass cull of the favorite household pet, after at least 20 of them have tested positive for L452R, the strain linked to Delta.
Chuang also said some sewage samples taken from the district have tested positive for both the Delta and the Omicron variants, raising fears more cases could turn up.
She said a team from CHP and experts will visit
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
“Because of the sewage problem, and now we found some cases with suspected Delta, we appeal to the residents or those who work in Wong Tai Sin district to come to have voluntary testing as soon as possible,” she said.
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| Another vertical transmission is suspected in block E of Tropicana Gardens in Wong Tai Sin |
Another possible vertical transmission being looked at involves two cases being found in each floor facing the same direction in Fu Keung House at Tai Wo Hau Estate. Experts will also conduct a site inspection.
The five untraceable cases include a 13-year-old boy studying at King George V in Ho Man Tin, which is part of the English Schools Foundation chain. The boy lives at La Rossa Coastal Skyline in Tung Chung where he had activities at the podium. Chuang said that as there had been a previous infection reported from the place, they were treating the new case as a possible linked one.
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The other unlinked cases include that of an IT worker at
Amundi Hong Kong bank, a 53-year-old woman who recently visited
Sara Ho from the Hospital Authority reported that three
staff at
She also confirmed that a number of staff at
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Ho also reported that two persons who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 had donated blood, one on Jan 16 in Tsuen Wan, and the other on Jan 20 in Sha Tin.
She said the HA has recalled some of the blood products, while a patient who had used the platelets from a donated batch is being monitored. Ho said there is little risk of the virus being passed on through blood.
As of today, 30 more Covid-19 patients were discharged after treatment, raising the number of recoveries to 12,602. A total of 426 patients are still being treated in various public hospitals and treatment centers, and all of them are stable.
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