Pedestrians walk past a residential building complex in Hong Kong on May 28, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government on Monday night cordoned off a building in Sheung Wan after one of its residents tested preliminarily positive for a COVID-19 mutant strain.
In a statement, the government said it cordoned off Centre Point, 72 Staunton Street, Sheung Wan at 7:30 pm so that its residents could be tested for the virus. The operation is expected to last until 7 am tomorrow.
The Centre for Health Protection said that a 27-year-old male resident of the building had tested preliminarily positive for the L452R mutant strain after returning from the US.
The Centre for Health Protection said that a 27-year-old male resident of the building had tested preliminarily positive for the L452R mutant strain
“He travelled to the United States on July 4 and returned to Hong Kong on July 18. His specimen collected upon arrival in the Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at Hong Kong International Airport tested preliminarily positive for COVID-19,” the CHP said in a statement, adding that the patient had no symptoms.
The CHP said it classified the patient’s infection as an imported case as he was likely to have been infected recently in the US.
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During the past 21 days, the patient stayed in Hong Kong from June 27 to July 4. He is employed at Pacific Plaza on 418 Des Voeux Road West and last went to work on July 2.
“His workplace and the places he had visited during the incubation period will be included in a compulsory testing notice,” the CHP said.
It added that the patient received two Comirnaty vaccine doses on April 26 and May 17 while in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong reported no new confimed virus cases on Monday, the fourth time this month that the financial hub had zero virus infections. The city’s tally of confirmed virus cases stood at 11,958.
A total of 27 confirmed patients were being treated as on Monday in nine public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, including one patient in serious condition, the Hospital Authority said.
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Also on Monday, Undersecretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin visited the on-site inoculation service for three secondary schools in Yuen Long, where more than 300 teachers, students and parents got their jabs.