HK reports first untraceable mutated Covid case

In the first case of its kind in Hong Kong, a domestic helper from the Philippines has caught a mutated strain of the coronavirus, N501Y, via an unknown local source.

The infection of the helper, 39, forced on Thursday evening the evacuation of a residential block in Tung Chung where she lives.

About 400 households of Tower 11 at Caribbean Coast are to be put under 21-day quarantine.

A 10-month-old baby girl under the helper’s care has also been confirmed with Covid-19. Further tests are being carried out to check the strain of the virus she contracted.

The baby’s parents – a primary school teacher and a psychologist – have tested negative for the virus.

The controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Ronald Lam, said officials couldn’t find any link between the helper’s infection and previous variant cases detected in Hong Kong.

“This is the first local infection of a coronavirus variant via an unknown source in the Hong Kong community,” Lam said.

“We think the situation is critical. We are very concerned and must take it seriously.”

The helper arrived in Hong Kong in 2019 and didn’t have a recent travel history.

During her incubation period, she took part in a choir at a church in Tsing Yi and visited a market, a supermarket, a park and a shopping mall in Tung Chung.