Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong Sha Tin (PHOTO / FACEBOOK.COM/COUNTYARDSHATIN.COM)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government announced that Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong in Sha Tin will be added as a designated quarantine hotel for foreign domestic helpers as the city reported one new COVID-19 infection on Friday, taking the tally to 12,378.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Labour Department said the Marriott hotel will provide 500 rooms for quarantine of foreign domestic helpers coming to work in Hong Kong starting from Dec 8.

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“Employers of foreign domestic helpers and employment agencies may, starting from 9:30 am on November 15, reserve a room through the online booking system of the Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong Sha Tin (www.marriott.com/HKGST) at a fee of HK$650 per night per room (including three meals and all charges),” the spokesperson said.

Employers of foreign domestic helpers and employment agencies may, starting from 9:30 am on Nov 15, reserve a room through the online booking system of the Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong Sha Tin at a fee of HK$650 per night per room

The hotel will adjust the number of rooms open for reservation each day having regard to the overall booking situation, the spokesman said.

The other two designated quarantine hotels for foreign maids in the city are the Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island and the Rambler Garden Hotel in Tsing Yi, which in total provide 1,500 rooms for domestic helpers.

Meanwhile, Silka Tsuen Wan hotel will serve for other quarantine purposes from Dec 1 onwards, the spokesman said.

The newly reported case on Friday is an imported case which involved a mutant strain, the Centre for Health Protection said in a separate statement.

The 59-year-old man arrived in Hong Kong from the United Kingdom on British Airways flight BA027 on Nov10. He tested positive during the "test-and-hold" arrangement upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport.

The man received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong in April and a third dose in the UK this month, according to the CHP.

A total of 40 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Hong Kong in the past 14 days and all of them were imported cases, the center added.

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Hong Kong's vaccination drive is making steady progress. Since the launch of the government’s inoculation program in late February, more than 4.65 million people, or 69.2 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines. Around 4.46 million people, or 66.3 percent, are fully vaccinated.

Beginning from Thursday, a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine has been made available to eligible groups in Hong Kong. People with weak immunity and high risks of infection with the virus can receive their third dose.

A total of 16,825 people have taken the boost shot in Hong Kong as of 7 pm Thursday.

With Xinhua inputs