Shorter stay at Penny's Bay announced for close contacts of Covid patients

Starting Monday (Jan 10), close contacts of new local Covid-19 cases will be quarantined at Penny's Bay for 14 days instead of 21 days.

The change was announced by Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre of Health Protection in a daily press conference, when Hong Kong reports 24 new Covid-19 cases.

Currently, the close contacts need to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days, counting from the last day of exposure to the locally acquired case tested positive with mutant strain.

For close contacts of local cases who tested positive announced from today, they will undergo 14-day quarantine at Penny's Bay, followed by seven days of self-monitoring, counting from the last day of exposure to the locally acquired case tested positive.

They are also subject to compulsory testing at a community testing centre on Day 19 in accordance with the compulsory testing notice.

The change is made considering the shorter incubation period of Omicron, and the surge in number of people requiring quarantine recently, Chuang said. 

Nevertheless, the change won't apply to close contacts who are already undergoing quarantine at the site, such as Secretary for Home Affairs Casper Tsui Ying-wai and Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang. 

There were five new local cases on Monday, including one with untraceable source of infection. The patient was a 20-year-old saleswoman at Sogo Department store who also worked at a Tuen Mun pharmacy. Her father also tested preliminary positive, and two other family members showed symptoms.

Both of them lives in Block 8 of Aegean Coast, Tuen Mun.
The father had symptoms on January 1, even earlier than the daughter. He operated a pharmacy in H.A.N.D.S shopping mall in Tuen Mun, whose name is translated as “East Asia Big Pharmacy”.

It is understood that a Cathay Pacific pilot shopped at the pharmacy. Authorities will investigate whether the cases are linked.

He also frequented Do Shing Restaurant in the same mall, and visited V City's Tiger Cafe on January 7.

Other eateries he visited included Outback in New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, and Fat Fat Fast Food in Tuen Mun.

Everyone who visited H.A.N.D.S between December 27 and January 9 have to undergo compulsory tests.

Also confirmed with Covid-19 was a 43-year-old woman, a horse owner who lives at Tower 2, Harbour Green, in Tai Kok Tsui. She is the friend of an infected guest - 37-year-old Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong's youth committee member Celia Wong Sze-nga – and both attended the birthday party of Witman Hung Wai-man, the principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority.

So far 214 people were found to have attended the birthday party.