A woman walks outside the M+ museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, Nov 11, 2021. (KIN CHEUNG / AP)
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s health authorities reported three additional Omicron infections on Saturday, bringing the tally of such COVID-19 variant infections in the city to 14.
The cases involved three men aged between 27 and 36 who were all confirmed infected with COVID-19 a day before.
“The whole genome sequencing conducted by the Department of Health's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch confirmed that the three cases all carried the Variant of Concern Omicron,” the Centre for Health Protection said in a statement.
The Omicron cases involved three men aged between 27 and 36 who were all confirmed infected with COVID-19 a day before
Among them, the 36-year-old local cargo crew member underwent medical surveillance in accordance with the relevant requirements for exempted persons. He tested positive under regular compulsory testing, the CHP said. The government has made a "restriction-testing declaration" earlier for Cheung Hing Building in Yau Ma Tei where he resided in Hong Kong. The compulsory testing frequency has also been increased for people who resided or worked at the same building, the center said.
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Also, the CHP has arranged about 10 of the patient’s close contacts and about 10 household contacts of those close contacts to conduct quarantine at quarantine center. There has been no relevant confirmed case so far, the CHP added.
The other two Omicron cases tested positive during the "test-and-hold" arrangement upon arrival at the Hong Kong airport.
Hong Kong reported five new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, taking the tally to 12,518.
All new cases were imported and involved mutant strains, the CHP said. The patients comprise three women and two men, aged 24 to 83. Two of them arrived in Hong Kong from the UK, one from Canada, one from Nigeria and the remaining from Nepal, the CHP added.
A total of 65 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all of them were imported, the CHP said.