By Daisy CL Mandap
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| The number of infected passengers from Nepal Air's flight on Jan 25 has now reached 65 |
Health authorities have reported 120 new Covid-19 cases today, Jan 29,
the seventh day in a row that the daily tally has been in the triple digits.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said the
locally acquired cases numbered 86, with 75 of them linked to previous
infections.
She also reported 11 more unlinked cases, further fueling fears of several silent transmissions going on, involving both the Omicron and the Delta variants. The number of cases whose sources have yet to be traced has now reached around 50, mostly in Kowloon and the New Territories.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Of today’s cases, 34 were imported, 29 of them newly detected infections from the virus-plagued Nepal Airlines flight RA 405 which arrived in Hong Kong from Kathmandu on Jan 25. A total of 36 passengers from that flight tested positive on arrival, prompting a two-week suspension of that route.
Today’s additional cases were caught during
Day 3 of mandatory testing. They raised the total infections from that flight to 65, the highest ever recorded for an arriving passenger airline in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, new infections have also been found among residents of Kwai
Chung Estate, site of the biggest outbreak of the Omicron outbreak in the city.
The tally from this cluster has now gone up to 416, involving 210 residential
units in 14 housing blocks.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The bulk of the cases came from Yat Kwai House, where 274 residents and staff have been found incted. Next is Ying Kwai House with 92 confirmed cases.
Chuang said they believe this transmission route has already been
plugged, as most of the new cases now involve residents who were already in
quarantine, after being identified earlier as close contacts of previous
patients.
However, she said it is possible that there may still be outbreaks in the
estate in the future, so residents may need to be tested again.
The last of the extended lockdowns on three buildings in the estate ended
today.Pindutin para sa detalye
Chuang also reported on two cases that have been classified as possibly
import-related, as both work at Hong Kong International Airport.
One is a 24-year-old male who hands out testing bottles and ushers in
arriving passengers. He tested positive on Jan 27 but negative two days
earlier.
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The other is a 54-year-old male washing room attendant. He cleans toilets
that are accessible to arriving passengers.
Among the linked cases is a worker at Cape Collinson Crematorium, four students at the Yuen Yuen Institute Secondary School in Tseung Kwan O, two staff at Hong Kong Day restaurant at the Far East Financial Centre in Admiralty, and a person who tested positive for the Delta strain after visiting the Little Boss pet shop in Mong Kok on Jan 16.
Of the 11 unlinked cases, two were found to carry the Delta variant. One
lives in Shun Kwong Centre in Wong Tai Sin and the other in Kwun Tong, Sau Ma
Ping.
Chuang said eight carried the Omicron variant while one did not produce
enough sample for testing. They live in various places like Kwai Fong, Laguna
City, To Kwan Wan and Shatin.
Dr Sara Ho, chief manager of the Hospital Authority, said 20 patients had
recovered in the past 24 hours, while 891 are still being treated in various
infection control centers and public hospitals.
“There are more and more admissions so we now need more manpower,” Dr Ho
said.
She appealed to retired health workers to help in the government’s effort
to contain the spread of the virus by filling up job vacancies in the public
hospital system.
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