M&S food labelers and ambulanceman test positive

Two more women who fix labels on Marks & Spencer's prepackaged food imported from Britain at a Kerry Logistics warehouse in Kwai Chung are infected with Covid-19.

And so is an ambulanceman, 27, who took one of their critically ill work mates to hospital, making him Hong Kong's first paramedic to be infected.

The Kerry facility also handles frozen food going to fast food chain Fairwood restaurants, though the firm said it involved a small amount. It has suspended the supply and is checking food in stock.

Marks & Spencer said it has cleaned all its 23 Hong Kong outlets.

In early April, nine people were infected after a group including Marks & Spencer staff at its Causeway Bay outlet and Tsim Sha Tsui head office went to a karaoke party.

Yesterday's three new cases took the SAR's tally to 1,088 with four deaths and could delay an easing of anti-virus measures this week.

The ambulance crew member stricken with the virus helped transport a 34-year-old woman - the first known virus victim of the Kerry three - to Prince of Wales Hospital on Saturday.

He tested positive for the virus yesterday.

The woman had been in critical condition when the ambulance arrived at her home at Lek Yuen Estate in Sha Tin and was given an oxygen mask.

Sources said there are four more preliminary positive cases on residents living at Luk Chuen House where the 34-year-old woman lives.

The paramedic was wearing a surgical mask, goggles and gloves and not N95 respirator. He dined with his girlfriend at a Japanese restaurant in Kowloon Tong then slept at a friend's home in Hin Tin Village in Tai Wai rather than going home to Fook Hoi House in Lek Yuen Estate where he lives with his parents and a brother.

He also helped take a returnee from Pakistan to Prince of Wales Hospital from Chun Yeung Estate quarantine center on Friday, though he wore full protective gear.

But he appeared to have suffered a low viral load and will be tested for antibodies to check if he was infected previously, said Chuang Shuk-Kwan from the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease unit.

His girlfriend and friend at Hin Tin Village have sent to quarantine centers. And two other ambulancemen tested negative but went into quarantine.

The Fire Services Department is also reviewing guidelines on ambulance crews' protective gear.

On the warehouse cluster, the two latest women victims were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19 yesterday.

One is 40-year-old who feverish with a cough and sore throat on April 27. She went to a private doctor that day and on April 29.

The woman stayed off work between April 27 and May 7. She was mostly at her home at Luen Yuet House in Kwai Chung's Kwai Luen Estate where she lives with her husband and three children.

The other Kerry worker is a 36-year-old living in another unit in Kwai Luen Estate with her husband and son.

She had a fever and cough on April 25, visited a private doctor that day and was absent from work until April 30.

Chuang noted the three Kerry women work on an overnight shift, attaching labels on Marks and Spencer's prepackaged chilled food. Environmental samples taken equipment and packaged food on Sunday night all tested negative.

Government adviser on Covid-19 and respiratory expert from the Chinese University of Hong Kong David Hui Shu-cheong said the emergence of the local cluster from an unknown source points to "silent community transmission."

He said authorities will likely extend social distancing measures after they expire on Thursday to see if more local cases surface.

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