Cleaner may have inhaled virus particles left in hotel room, says health expert

The hotel cleaner who was listed as an untraceable local infection today may have inhaled particles of the virus left in the hotel room, according to government advisor Yuen Kwok-yung.

A 41-year-old woman who worked at quarantine hotel Bridal Tea House Hotel in Yau Ma Tei tested positive for mutant virus. But she later tested twice negative for the virus in hospital.

She cleaned a room of a patient who stayed at the hotel between June 20 and 27.

Yuen this afternoon inspected the hotel to investigate the source of the infection. Yuen said the hotel arranged a cleaning company to clean the room first, before assigning the woman to clean it for the second time.

However the cleaning process by the company took less than 10 minutes, and the detergents they used were also not strong enough to kill the virus. There may be particles of the virus left in the room after the cleaning. Yuen pointed out that the situation is not ideal.

The woman may have inhaled the particles when she came in and cleaned the room the next day, causing her to test positive for the mutant variant, according to Yuen.

Yuen added it is hard to tell whether the virus she contracted is contagious or not. It is also unknown if she will develop symptoms later. Therefore the woman must stay under observation in hospital and her close contacts will have to remain in quarantine.

He stressed that hotel cleaners must get their jabs as they are more likely to be exposed to the virus at quarantine hotels. Yuen also reminded cleaning companies to strictly follow instructions of the Centre for Health Protection and use detergents that can kill the virus effectively.