Tuen Mun and Causeway Bay lockdowns see no new cases

The government on Wednesday said no new cases of Covid-19 had been found following an overnight lockdown of a residential building in Tuen Mun, the home of a man who had tested preliminary positive for the virus, without a clear source of infection.

Block 2 of Tsui Ning Garden on Fung On Street was locked down at about 7 pm on Tuesday. Authorities said, as of 12 am, 985 people had been tested.

On Tuesday, the Centre for Health Protection’s Albert Au said the 42-year-old surveyor had not been vaccinated and that he hadn’t been to any high-risk places, such as the Moon Palace restaurant in Kowloon Tong, the centre of an Omicron cluster.

The man, who works in North Point, saw a private doctor on Monday, after developing a fever. He was then sent to hospital. Dr Au said there was a high possibility that the man had been infected with the Omicron variant.

Speaking on RTHK’s “Hong Kong Today” programme, Professor Benjamin Cowling of the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health said the untraceable case was a big concern.

“If you remember back to the third and fourth waves, whenever untraceable cases appeared we knew there was always some other undetected, unrecognised cases in the community as well, because we know not every case of Covid is going to be identified,” he said.

“I think the contact tracing at the Moon Palace restaurant has been fantastic but I wonder if, maybe, there’s been a little bit of transmission in other locations apart from that restaurant.”

No new cases were also found at two separate lockdowns at Causeway Tower and at Chesterfield Mansion in Causeway Bay. The buildings had been sealed off due to preliminary positive Covid cases. The government said, as of 3 am, 120 residents had been tested at Causeway Tower; and, as of 2 am, 150 residents at Chesterfield Mansion.

The Causeway Bay cases respectively involve a 48-year-old woman and a 43-year-old domestic helper. They are linked to a cluster surrounding a 28-year-old female Cathay Pacific aircrew worker, via her close family member.

Meanwhile further investigation by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) showed that the employer of the 43-year-old domestic helper – and another eight close contacts of the 62-year-old – boarded the cruise ship “Spectrum of the Seas” on January 2. It embarked on a “cruise-to-nowhere” the same day and is scheduled to return on Thursday.

According to information provided by the cruise company, there are about 2,500 passengers and some 1,200 staff on board. The CHP asked the company to isolate and test the nine close contacts and they have since have tested preliminary negative.