New preliminary positive case triggers hotpot cluster fear

A 20-year-old student was tested preliminary positive after he visited a hotpot restaurant in Causeway Bay last Tuesday, the same time as another confirmed patient who dined there, the Centre for Health Protection announced.

The student visited the hotpot shop Nabe Urawa in Hysan Place, where health authorities suspected a possible virus transmission within the restaurant.

The center’s head of communicable disease branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said there has been concern about aerosol transmission during the hotpot dining, urging all diners who visited the hotpot shop after 7.41pm on January 4 to get tested and contact health authorities.

The boy has worked part-time at the restaurant Dustykid Tea - Light As Dust’s Wan Chai and Sheung Wan shop and has visited Golden Era Plaza in Mong Kok, Windsor House and Hysan Mall in Causeway Bay during his incubation period.

Another two preliminary positive cases are residents of Maple Gardens Phase III in North Point, where health experts suspected vertical transmission is in play. They include an 83-year-old woman living in unit 6B and a 32-year-old man living in unit 9B.

The 83-year-old was believed to have contracted the virus from her 48-year-old son who works at Citic Securities, with their infection stemmed from the North Point flight attendant cluster.

As for the 32-year-old who works construction, the CHP said he had been to a number of housing estates for work during his incubation period, including Redhill Peninsula in Tai Tam, Bedford Gardens in North Point, and Tsui Lam Estate in Tseung Kwan O.

Colleagues who worked with him and owners of the flats he worked at will be required to get tested.

The remaining preliminary positive case is a 19-year-old student who lived at Maya on Shung Shan Street in Yau Tong. He last went to his school Hong Kong Tang King Po College on Friday and have visited the Central Library in Causeway Bay recently.

The CHP said his infection is possibly related to his family member who was earlier diagnosed with Covid. According to CHP data, the relevant case is his 71-year-old mother who has been to Citic Securities and lived in Flora Garden in North Point.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong on Wednesday reports 22 new Covid cases, including one from an unknown source and five other locally-transmitted infections.

The latest unknown source case is a 51-year-old female security guard who worked at the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Center. 

Health authorities said they are still investigating whether the woman contracted the virus from the quarantine facility or from the Tuen Mun community.

Among the 22 cases reported today, 20 of them involved the highly transmissible Omicron variant.