By
The SUN
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| Experts believe the virus spread among six guests at Silka Seaview |
Hong Kong health officials said tonight, Jan 16, that they are investigating an apparent cross-infections among six inbound travelers who had spent their compulsory quarantine at Silka Seaview Hotel in Yau Ma Tei.
The investigation was sparked by the case of a Pakistani housewife who tested positive for Covid-19 with the Omicron strains four days after ending her 21-day quarantine at the hotel on Jan 10. She was one of 11 new confirmed cases reported today.
In its report released tonight, the Centre for Health
Protection (CHP) said that it is investigating a possible link among cases 12891,
12893, 12895, 12981 and 12994 to 13045, which pertains to the Pakistani
national.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
All of the patients in these cases stayed at Silka Seaview
between Dec 20 and Jan 4.
Cases 12893 and 12895 both arrived in Hong Kong on Jan
2 and stayed in room 413. They both tested positive on Jan. 6.
Case 12994 arrived in Hong Kong on Dec 25 and stayed
in the adjacent room, 414, on the same floor, and tested positive on January
10.
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According to CHP, genome sequencing done by the public
laboratory of the Department of Health shows the three cases have highly
similar genetic sequences, suggesting that they are “very likely to be
epidemiologically linked.”
Meanwhile, case 12891 arrived in Hong Kong on Jan 4
and stayed in room 1205, and tested positive on Jan 6.
The person who stayed in the room with him, case
12981,was sent to a quarantine centre on Jan 8 and tested positive on Jan. 9.
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Lastly, case 13045 arrived in Hong Kong on Dec 20 and stayed
in the adjacent room, 1206. She tested negative in all tests conducted during quarantine.
After her discharge on Jan 10 she went home to Tung Moon House, Tai Hang Tung
Estate, 83 Tai Hang Tung Road, Sham Shui Po. In line with regulations she got
tested on Jan 13 at a community testing centre and the result was positive with
a heavy viral load.
The CHP said genome sequencing on the three remaining
cases have yet to be completed.
Following the results of the initial genome sequencing
government experts conducted a site inspection of the hotel late this
afternoon. They concluded that the air flows in the rooms and corridors may
have caused the virus to spread from room to room.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Based on the expert opinion, the CHP will order compulsory
quarantine for 14 days on persons who had stayed in the rooms adjacent to and
opposite to room 413 from Jan 2 to 7; and those who had stayed in the rooms adjacent to and
opposite to room 1205 from Jan 4 to 8.
Starting on Jan 17, Silka Seaview was used as a quarantine hotel for close contacts of cases who tested positive for Covid-19. As such, it stopped taking reservations from inbound travelers since Jan 12, and all those who were still checked in were moved to other designated quarantine hotels.
