Omicron link of Sogo woman, dad 'found'

A saleswoman at the Sogo department store could have contracted Omicron from her father, who runs a pharmacy where the Cathay Pacific flight attendant who triggered the Moon Palace cluster had shopped recently, says the Centre for Health Protection.

The 20-year-old part-timer is the only unknown-source case among 24 Covid infections reported yesterday. Four were locally transmitted and linked to clusters while the remaining 19 were imported.

Earlier in the day, the Centre for Health Protection's head of the communicable disease unit, Chuang Shuk-kwan, said the saleswoman's father tested preliminary positive for the virus.

But late last night, the government said the saleswoman's infection could still be related to an imported case.

The father developed symptoms - coughing and fever - on January 1. The daughter has not developed symptoms so far, Chuang said.

The father and daughter live at Aegean Coast's block 8 in So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun, and both work at their own pharmacy at HANDS mall in Tuen Mun.

Chuang said the father was classified as a close contact and was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital because he had developed symptoms.

Investigations have found that the 44-year-old now-sacked Cathay Pacific male flight attendant, who had lunch at the Moon Palace restaurant at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong and triggered the local transmission of the Omicron variant, shopped at the Tuen Mun pharmacy on December 27.

"It's possible that the father contracted the virus from the [flight attendant] but we still have to wait for the result of genetic sequencing tests to see if they have been infected with the same virus," Chuang said.

She said the father frequented Do Shing Restaurant at HANDS and would sometimes even have all three meals there.

He also visited Tiger Cafe in V City in Tuen Mun on January 7 and several other eateries, including Outback in Sha Tin's New Town Plaza, and Fat Fat Fast Food in Tuen Mun.

"We are worried that there may be silent transmission at HANDS as both the saleswoman and her father stayed there for a long time and even had meals there," Chuang said.

She said all people who visited the mall between December 27 and January 9 have to undergo compulsory tests. Chuang appealed to people to visit doctors or get tested as soon as possible if they develop symptoms.

The other four confirmed cases included a 66-year-old woman living in unit 10D at Mei Sun Building in Tai Po. She contracted the virus from an Indonesian helper, her employer and the employer's teenage daughter living in unit 5D.

Chuang said 41 people living in units 6D to 24D in the building have been sent to Penny's Bay quarantine center.

Health authorities collected more than 40 environmental samples from the building. The results of four samples are pending while the others have tested negative, Chuang said.

Amy Chan Wing-sum, 43, who attended liaison official Witman Hung Wai-man's infamous birthday party and tested preliminary positive on Sunday was confirmed with Covid yesterday.

The other two cases related to imported cases were a masseuse who provided foot massage to a confirmed case and the masseuse's 88-year-old family member living in Ming Wah Dai Ha, Shau Kei Wan.

The city also recorded seven preliminary positive cases - and all were close contacts of patients at Penny's Bay.

The cases included a 16-year-old student at St Francis' Canossian College in Wan Chai who lives at Flora Garden in North Point. She last attended school on Friday and went to tutoring class in Tin Hau. She was related to the Six Garden restaurant cluster.

Two relatives of Celia Wong Sze-nga, the infected guest at Hung's birthday party, also tested preliminary positive.

Meanwhile, 5-7 Nassau Street of Mei Foo Sun Chuen Phase 5 in Lai Chi Kok was locked down from 7pm yesterday over a preliminary positive case. Residents were required to undergo tests by midnight.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com