HK at fifth-wave tipping point

Hong Kong is at the "tipping point" of a fifth wave of the Covid-19 outbreak as at least five diners at a restaurant have been infected by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said yesterday that the latest confirmed case - a 50-year-old housewife living in Ma On Shan - sat at another table quite far away from the first infected customer, a 44-year-old Cathay aircrew member, while eating at Moon Palace restaurant in Festival Walk.

"Health officials checked CCTV footage at the restaurant and found the aircrew sitting near the entrance of the restaurant," she said.

"Therefore, some people might contract the virus when entering or leaving the restaurant," she said of the variant's pread via airborne transmission.

Chan said the restaurant was cooperating with epidemiological investigation and provided information on customers who paid with credit cards. Authorities have contacted most of the diners.

She appealed to other diners who visited the restaurant from 1pm to 3pm on December 27 to contact health officials as soon as possible.

It is understood that authorities are still looking for about 100 diners who attended Moon Palace on the afternoon of December 27. They have been listed as close contacts and should be sent to the Penny's Bay quarantine center.

Authorities are unable to track all the diners despite the mandatory use of the LeaveHomeSafe app, because the app will only inform users to get tested instead of sending users' whereabouts to the government, Chan said.

She also warned that once the fifth wave emerges, existing quarantine facilities may be full and authorities may have to introduce home quarantine.

Government adviser Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong said yesterday ventilators at Moon Palace were installed on the ceiling and unable to facilitate air exchange properly around dining tables.

"Actually most restaurants have done a good job because they have installed enough ventilators. However, most ventilators were installed on the ceiling and could only purify upper air, and the air around diners may not be changed," Yuen said.

Because of that, there were only two air changes in the eatery per hour, compared to the authorities' requirement of six, Yuen said, urging the government to improve guidelines on installing ventilators for restaurants.

Yuen also said Hong Kong could see a fifth wave anytime because of limited contact tracing, suggesting aircrews should be tested every day upon arrival.

Another government adviser, David Hui Shu-cheong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said authorities need not tighten social distancing measures now, but will have to do so if more than one cluster has emerged.

Despite the cluster at Moon Palace, the president of the Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, Simon Wong Ka-wo, said there was no significant reduction in dine-in customers at eateries during the New Year holiday.

A fifth diner at Moon Palace tested preliminarily positive yesterday.

She is the wife of the third infected diner in the cluster, who is a 34-year-old construction worker. The wife had lunch with her husband, and another two family members, at Moon Palace from 2.30pm to 4pm on December 27.

She was sent to Penny's Bay quarantine center on December 30 and to Tuen Mun Hospital on Saturday.

Health authorities said around 340 people related to the Moon Palace cluster have been sent to the quarantine center, including 22 restaurant staff and about 170 customers.

No cases have been picked up in three lockdowns in Ma On Shan, North Point and Tung Chung on Saturday night.

Cathay has fired two flight attendants who violated quarantine rules, including the flight attendant who ate at Moon Palace during the Christmas holiday.

Cathay Pacific said five of its employees have tested positive for the Omicron variant during home isolation.

"Regrettably, our investigation into these cases has indicated a serious breach of protocols by some of those individuals," the airline said.

"Failure to comply with medical surveillance regulations will lead to disciplinary procedures. Two of the individuals are no longer employed by Cathay Pacific."

Chan also said yesterday that authorities will continue to create favorable conditions for the quarantine-free travel scheme with the mainland, but priority will be given to making sure the Moon Palace cluster does not spread any further.

Hong Kong yesterday recorded one possibly import-related case involving the 50-year-old housewife living in Ma On Shan and 25 imported cases from countries including India, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, taking the SAR's tally to 12,693 positive cases - 12,664 confirmed cases and 29 asymptomatic cases.

Twenty-four cases were carrying the N501Y and T478K mutations related to the Omicron variant.

Hong Kong yesterday also recorded the first seriously ill Covid-19 patient who had contracted the Omicron variant.

The 61-year-old male nurse from Castle Peak Hospital, who returned from the United Kingdom on December 20, tested positive on arrival.

He has been in a serious condition since Friday at the hospital's intensive care unit.