HK’s Omicron tally rises to eight

Hong Kong recorded an eighth Omicron case on Tuesday, with a recent arrival testing positive for the Covid variant while in the Penny’s Bay quarantine centre.

The 50-year-old patient arrived from Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya via Qatar last Friday.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) noted that all eight Omicron cases found in Hong Kong so far were detected at the airport or quarantine premises.

“There has not been any spread in the community. The CHP will adopt the most stringent prevention and control measures to prevent the mutant strain from entering the local community,” a spokesman said.

Health authorities also reported five new imported Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

One of the patients, a woman from the Philippines, only tested positive after leaving quarantine on December 8 and switching to the Winland 800 Hotel in Tsing Yi.

A test she took on Sunday under a compulsory testing requirement came back preliminarily positive, but with a low viral load.

“Based on the epidemiological and laboratory findings so far, the case is compatible with a re-positive case. As a prudent measure, the places where she resided and visited in Hong Kong during the incubation period have been included in a compulsory testing notice,” officials said.