Virus may have spread at Kwai Chung block

Health authorities suspect Covid-19 might have spread in a public housing block at Kwai Chung Estate after more infections were linked to the building.

The latest confirmed patients from Yat Kwai House are a 53-year-old resident who works at the airport, and a one-year-old baby who visited his grandmother who lives in the building.

Officials on Thursday also reported more preliminary-positive cases linked to Yat Kwai House.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said cases have emerged from seven units on separate floors and facing different directions, and experts will visit the building to check how the infections might have happened.

“I have mentioned some commonly known mechanisms, such as taking the lift, throwing rubbish or staying in the lobby. Or they chatted with the neighbours or used the common facilities, such as the mailboxes and other doorknobs. Or they even stayed outside or inside the building near by [each other],” she said.

Chuang said vertical or horizontal transmission of the virus is also possible.

As for the infection of a kindergarten teacher who lives in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, health authorities have now linked it to the cluster regarding a woman who tested positive after completing her hotel quarantine.

Genome sequencing showed the teacher and the Pakistani woman have the same strain.

Officials said the teacher might have caught the virus when she passed by the woman’s children at Mei Foo MTR station, even though they had all worn masks.

“This is the only possible common path we could find at this moment. Of course, if there are other instances, such as they had meal together or other encounters, that may explain the infection more. But we did try our very best to search for all the possible routes and pathways and so on, and only found this,” Chuang said.

Hong Kong reported 14 new Covid cases for the day, 10 of which are local infections.