HK karate athletes among new Omicron cases

Hong Kong on Monday reported that 14 people confirmed to have Covid-19 at Christmas are carrying the Omicron strain, bringing the SAR’s total to 58.

The eight men and six women, aged between 20 and 80, were reported as imported Covid-19 cases on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. All of them tested positive at the airport or in quarantine.

National Games bronze medallist Lau Chi-ming confirmed to RTHK that he’s been infected with the Omicron variant, along with four of his team mates who flew back from Kazakhstan via South Korea.

Two other karate athletes who flew back on the 23rd of December from Kazakhstan have also tested positive for Covid-19.

Together with the 19-year-old woman and 26-year-old man, the Centre for Health Protection reported nine new imported cases.

One of the patients is a 42-year-old local aircrew member who works with an earlier confirmed case. They arrived from Australia on Christmas Eve.

The building she lives in at Park Avenue in Mong Kok has been placed under a compulsory testing order, along with various places she visited during the incubation period.

Authorities also issued a compulsory testing order for the Crowne Plaza Kowloon East hotel in Tseung Kwan O, after mainland officials reported that a twenty-six-year-old man who stayed there tested positive on arrival in Shanghai on Christmas Eve.

Last updated: 2021-12-27 HKT 20:10