Government staffers check the mobile phone of a resident of Wan Hang House, Wan Tau Tong Estate in Tai Po to see if he has undergone compulsory COVID-19 testing, Hong Kong, June 23, 2021. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
HONG KONG – Hong Kong reported seven new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, including a locally transmitted case, snapping the city’s 16-day streak of no local infections.
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The local case involved a 27-year-old man who worked as a ground staffer at the Hong Kong airport, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, at a briefing.
The man was carrying the L452R variant strain and how he got the virus remained unknown, a health official said
The man was carrying the L452R variant strain and how he got the virus remained unknown, Chuang said.
The patient, who developed symptoms on Sunday, last went to work on June 16, but he also worked as a part-time customer service assistant at Uptown Plaza in Tai Po and last went there on Tuesday, according to Chuang.
He lived with his parents at Wan Hang House of Wan Tau Tong Estate in Tai Po, where his sister and niece came to visit occasionally. So far, none of his close contacts have tested positive.
“We suspect his infection is more likely to be from the airport, but the exact source of the infection is still under investigation,” Chuang said.
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An overnight mandatory testing operation was conducted in the neighborhood, in which about 2,100 residents were swabbed and no one tested positive.
The rest of Thursday’s fresh cases were imported – four from the United Kingdom and two from Indonesia.
The city’s total number of infections rose to 11,905, with 210 related deaths.