Pedestrians walk in the Sham Shui Po district of Kowloon in Hong Kong on Jan 27, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported two imported COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, pushing the city’s tally to 11,996, as health authorities quarantined a 13-year-old girl whose classmate tested positive for the Delta variant in Macao. 

The two new patients were a woman who flew in from the United States on Thursday and a woman who arrived from the United Arab Emirates on Friday, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Cente for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said at a briefing.

A 13-year-old girl, who came to Hong Kong on Monday with two of her family members under the Return2HK Scheme, was identified as a classmate of a girl in Macao who was infected. All her tests were negative so far

Both of them were carriers of L452R mutant strain, while neither have been vaccinated, Chuang added.

The government temporarily suspended on Tuesday the Return2hk Scheme with Macao after a family of four in the gambling hub tested positive for the Delta variant. 

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According to Macao health authorities, the father had recently traveled to Zhuhai and Zhongshan while the mother only traveled to Zhuhai. Their daughter, who visited a mainland city as part of an exchange program between July 19 and 24, is believed to be the source of infection.

A 13-year-old girl, who came to Hong Kong on Monday with two of her family members under the Return2HK Scheme, was identified as a classmate of the girl in Macao who was infected. All her tests were negative so far.

The two girls, both members of a school dance club, went to Xi’an, Shaanxi province, in mid-July, and they once shared one hotel room. 

The 13-year-old lived with her family at The Luxe Manor, a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, before being sent to a quarantine facility. She went to multiple places across the city, which will be covered by mandatory testing orders, according to the CHP.

Hong Kong residents traveling from Macao will also be subject to 14 days of compulsory quarantine at home.

READ MORE: HK logs 3 new virus cases, sets mandatory testing in 8 areas

Meanwhile, a 43-year-old construction worker tested preliminarily positive for the coronavirus after submitting his sample on Monday. The man lived at Tung Lo Court in Sham Shui Po and worked at two sites in Wan Chai. About 20 of his close contacts have been located.

He has a low viral load and tested negative repeatedly after being hospitalized. Chuang said the man was likely to have been infected before May as he tested positive for antibodies but had not been vaccinated.