Coronavirus: Hong Kong logs 259 cases, while new cluster emerges in Kwun Tong
- New outbreak, involving nine confirmed cases, emerges at eatery on first floor of Shing Yip Industrial Building in Kwun Tong
- Latest infections, which included 33 imported ones, took city’s Covid-19 tally to 1,208,506
Hong Kong has logged more than 250 new Covid-19 cases, some tied to existing clusters, as authorities race to track a new outbreak restaurant in an industrial building in Kwun Tong.
Health officials on Sunday acknowledged that infections were on a “slightly upward” trend, but they dismissed a warning by the medical dean at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) that a sixth wave could be imminent as only a mathematical model.
Authorities on Sunday confirmed another 259 new cases, 33 of which were imported, and reported one more death related to the virus. The latest infections took the city’s Covid-19 tally to 1,208,506, with 9,361 related deaths.
Nine of the cases were tied to the new cluster at an eatery on the first floor of Shing Yip Industrial Building in Kwun Tong, health officials said.
According to preliminary investigations, all nine individuals visited the premises after 5pm last Monday, and some started to show symptoms on Wednesday.
Authorities said they would inspect the site and examine whether a superspreading event could have taken place.
“Some people said they were only there for 10 minutes to get something … we need to investigate whether some customers took off their mask and ate there,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Department of Health’s communicable disease branch. “If some individuals were highly infectious, they would spread the coronavirus even when they wore a mask.”
