Government staff register residents of Parkes Building to undergo compulsory COVID-19 testing in Jordan, Hong Kong, April 16, 2021. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong health officials quarantined 81 residents of a building in a densely populated neighborhood after a man who had traveled to the city from Dubai initially tested positive for a highly transmissible mutant strain of COVID-19 – the first time the variant has been detected in Hong Kong’s community.

Health authorities designated Parkes Building in the Jordan area of Kowloon as a “restricted area” to conduct mandatory testing and have ordered compulsory screening for those who have visited the building or come into contact with the patient, according to the government.

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This case is very worrisome. We can’t rule out the possibility that he contracted it from the community. We have never identified a local case with the variant.

 Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch, Centre for Health Protection

The asymptomatic 29-year-old man stayed with a friend in the building after serving the mandatory 21-day quarantine period at a hotel, during which time he tested negative for the virus a number of times. Authorities are trying to establish whether he contracted the virus in Dubai where he works, on the flight or in Hong Kong.

“This case is very worrisome,” Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at a briefing on Saturday. “We can’t rule out the possibility that he contracted it from the community. We have never identified a local case with the variant.”

The preliminary test result from the confirmed case involved the N501Y mutant strain of the coronavirus, which is highly transmissible, she said. The building is “relatively old” and houses some sub-divided units, according to a government statement.

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Asymptomatic residents in the 48 units on all 11 floors were transferred to quarantine centers, while those with symptoms were hospitalized, according to the statement. Authorities also ordered compulsory testing for anyone who had visited the building for more than two hours in the eight days since April 9.

Hong Kong reported 18 new confirmed cases on Saturday, eight of which were locally transmitted and the source of six of those was untraceable.

“Given the possible resurgence of cases, we need to be vigilant and we urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Ronald Lam, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said at the briefing.

Among the 10 imported cases reported on Saturday, seven were from India, two from the Philippines, and one from Indonesia, Chuang said.

The city has administered more than 1 million doses of vaccine as of Friday evening, with around 671,700 residents receiving their first dose and 345,900 getting their second dose, according to the government. 

With Bloomberg inputs