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Published: 18:01, May 15, 2022 | Updated: 09:33, May 16, 2022
HK logs 259 virus cases, outbreak at Kwun Tong eatery infects 9
By Wang Zhan
Published:18:01, May 15, 2022 Updated:09:33, May 16, 2022 By Wang Zhan

People walk past cordoned-off exercise equipment at a park amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong on March 4, 2022. (DALE DE LA REY / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 259 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday as health authorities investigated an outbreak at a restaurant in Kwun Tong district involving at least nine people.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said in a news briefing that 33 of the new cases were imported while 226 were local infections.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said in a news briefing that 33 of the new cases were imported while 226 were local infections

She said that 113 cases were confirmed through nucleic acid tests and 146 by rapid antigen tests. Sunday’s figure is lower than the 284 infections logged on Saturday, bringing the infection tally during the city's fifth wave of the pandemic to 1,195,375. 

READ MORE: HK sees 298 new virus cases, outbreak at Sheung Wan eatery

Chuang said 17 of the imported cases were detected at the airport, including four cases on Air India flight AI314 from New Delhi, three cases on Singapore Airlines flight SQ894 from the city-state and another three cases on KLM flight KL819 from Amsterdam.

Chuang also said that 11 new cases were linked to the Chinese restaurant Sky Cuisine in Sheung Wan, involving four staff members and seven customers, bringing the number of cases in the cluster to 52. 

The infected diners came from more than 20 families and occupied more than 20 of the 29 tables on the third floor, Chuang said. The authorities are still investigating the cases to determine the distribution of infections in the dining hall.

When asked about the possibility of a sixth wave of COVID-19, Chuang said there could be hundreds of silent transmission chains in the community given that around 200 cases are detected each day. She called on members of the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible to reduce the risks of infection

Chuang also said that nine people who visited a restaurant at Room 12 on the first floor of Shing Yip Industrial Building in Kwun Tong on the evening of May 9 tested positive for the virus. 

“Some of them said they had only stayed for a short period of time to buy snacks there,” Chuang said. “Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant, it is possible for people to get the virus even when wearing masks,” she added.

ALSO READ: HK's third-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate reaches 50%

She said investigations are ongoing and that a compulsory testing notice will be issued to request anyone who visited the place between 5 pm and midnight on May 9 to get tested for COVID-19.

When asked about the possibility of a sixth wave of COVID-19, Chuang said there could be hundreds of silent transmission chains in the community given that around 200 cases are detected each day. She called on members of the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible to reduce the risks of infection.

Meanwhile, Hospital Authority Chief Manager Sara Ho said at the same briefing that an 82-year-old female patient with COVID-19 died in the last 24 hours. 

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