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| Five Indonesian DHs who stayed in a boarding house in this building have tested positive for Covid-19 |
Two Indonesian domestic helpers who had stayed in separate
boarding houses tested positive while under quarantine, and were among 18 new
Covid-19 cases reported today, Aug 20.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said
at today’s press briefing that the low number of cases today could be due to
the small number of sample bottles collected yesterday because of the hoisting
of Typhoon Signal No 8 in the morning.
Only one imported case was included in today’s tally,
involving a returnee who flew in aboard Air India
Dr Chuang said there are now 14 cases linked to that flight,
although some, like the new case today, belonged to family clusters.
Of the two new infected Indonesian helpers, one reportedly stayed
in a boarding house in Chung
Hing Mansion
The other helper stayed in a dormitory in Tsuen Wan run by
the David Cheung employment agency, where five other Indonesian workers who
tested positive earlier spent time.
Both helpers were put in quarantine centers after several
other Indonesian helpers who stayed in the same lodging houses were found
infected.
Dr Chuang said the helper who stayed in the David Cheung
shelter was quarantined on Aug 9, and tested positive on her second specimen
sample.
The one who lived in Cheung Hing was moved by her agency to
another dormitory on Fa Yuen
street
Chuang said she was not aware of the progress of testing
being done in agency-run shelters, as this is being done under the direction of
the Labour Department.
But in a press briefing on Monday, Chief Executive Carrie
Lam said only 900 test bottles have been turned in by agencies, despite
estimates that around 6,000 FDHs are currently staying in dormitories while
waiting for their employment visas to be released.
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| CE Lam says the spread of the virus in agency shelters is a cause for concern (File) |
Also among the new linked cases were three staff of Wang Kee
company in the Kwai Tsing container terminal, where more than 50 people have previously
tested positive for Covid-19. Health officials believe the outbreak came from
the shared living quarters of the company personnel.
Chuang said about 3,700 specimen samples from staff in the
container terminal have already been tested, and another 1,000 have been handed
in for testing.
Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority said another
elderly patient, a 92-year-old woman, died at 8:48am today in Queen Elizabeth
Hospital
Of the 4,605 total cases recorded in Hong
Kong so far, 660 remain confined in 19 public hospitals and the
treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Thirty-one of them are in critical
condition, 35 are serious, and 594 are in stable condition.
