HK reports first ‘Delta plus’ variant case

By The SUN

 

Man with Delta plus variant took same flight as today's lone imported case

The Centre for Health Protection has reported finding the more transmissible “Delta plus” variant in a man who arrived from the United Kingdom on Monday, Nov. 1.

According to a CHP statement issued today, Nov. 5, The 62-year-old man who arrived from London on flight BA027 was the first to test positive for the new mutation of the Delta variant, identified by sub-lineage AY.4.2.

Previously, he was reported to carry the L452R mutant strain, commonly identified with the Delta variant.

According to the CHP, an increase in the number of cases with the Delta plus variant has been noted globally since July this year, and over 26,000 cases have been uploaded to the online genome database by the end of October 2021. The majority, or 93 percent, of all cases were reported in the UK.

“It was reported that AY.4.2 might be more transmissible than other Delta strains, especially among household members,” said the CHP.

Despite this, preliminary studies in the UK did not reportedly find any significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness for AY.4.2 compared to other Delta strains.

The case was detected after CHP conducted whole genome sequencing of the man’s infection, as part of standard practice.

Meanwhile, an additional confirmed case reported as of midnight last night involves a 46-year-old woman who took the same British Airways flight as the man with the Delta plus variant.

The woman was under quarantine at Nina Hotel in Wong Chuk Hang when she tested positive for Covid-19 with the L452R mutant strain on her third-day test.

She took Hong Kong’s total coronavirus cases to 12,360 confirmed and one probable case.