All gym staff ordered to get tested for Covid

Authorities on Friday ordered all gym workers in Hong Kong to get tested for Covid by Sunday.

A major coronavirus outbreak at a gym in Sai Ying Pun worsened on Friday, with 47 more customers and their close contacts coming down with the infection.

That raised the total number of cases linked to Ursus Fitness to 64, while 360 others have been put under quarantine.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said many of those infected work in Central, including bankers and lawyers.

All the patients had visited more than 10 gyms among them.

Chuang added that contact tracing had been challenging as many of them had a lot of social activities, including gatherings at restaurants and bars.

“It’s challenging because a lot of cases popped up in one or two days. They may have already gone to various places. Many of them went to restaurants or sometimes bars to drink with their friends and gathered at home. So it’s difficult to recall all these activities,” she said.

Authorities reported 60 new coronavirus infections on Friday – the highest single-day total since late January – with 54 of them locally transmitted.

Officials are unable to trace the source of five infections, including a primary school student, a security guard and a housewife.

More than 20 others have tested preliminary positive for the virus, including a personal trainer who works at a gym in Central. Officials are investigating whether she’s linked to the Ursus Fitness cluster.