(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) 14 new cases in Hong Kong, 7 units in a residential building

  China News Agency, Hong Kong, January 20 (Reporter Han Xingtong) As of 0:00 on the 20th, there were 14 new positive cases of the new coronavirus in Hong Kong, and more than 20 preliminary positive cases.

At least 7 units of Yat Kwai House in Kwai Chung Village have positive and preliminary positive cases, and the pet shop group has added preliminary positive cases.

  The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government held a briefing on the epidemic on the 20th to announce that there were 14 new positive cases, involving 4 imported cases and 10 locally infected cases.

Among the total cases, 12 cases are suspected to involve the mutant virus strain Omicron, and 1 case is suspected to involve the mutant virus strain Delta.

  There are two more cases in Yat Kwai House, Kwai Chung Village, including a 53-year-old man who lives on the third floor and works as a forklift driver at the Hong Kong International Airport; and a 1-year-old baby who visited his mother-in-law who lived on the seventh floor of the building.

Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Center for Health Protection, said that the relevant cases appeared in different directions and floors of the Yikui Building, and there were other preliminary positive cases in the building, involving at least 7 units. The SAR government will inspect the site for environmental infections factor.

  Among the local cases is a 17-year-old boy suspected of having delta virus, who lives in Block 3, The Gateway, Kwun Tong.

Zhang Zhujun said that according to the results of the whole gene analysis of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the boy is different from the clerk of the Little Boss pet store in Causeway Bay who was diagnosed recently, and other sources of infection are suspected.

In addition, teachers and students of Delia Memorial School (Broadway) in Mei Foo have been diagnosed one after another, including a 58-year-old female teacher and a secondary one student living in Jinrong House, Kam Fung Court, Ma On Shan.

  There were more than 20 preliminary positive cases that day, and at least three were local infections of unknown origin.

The related cases include the parents of a 26-year-old female kindergarten teacher who was diagnosed recently and whose source is unknown.

  Zhang Zhujun mentioned that another 30-year-old female customer in the Little Boss pet store group who had purchased a hamster was initially positive at the quarantine center, and a customer from I love rabbit, a pet store in Mong Kok, was initially positive.

The Centre for Health Protection and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government have recently collected environmental samples and animal samples from more than 30 pet shops in various districts. Currently, a hamster cage sample from an I love rabbit in Tuen Mun has tested positive.

At the same time, according to the whole genetic analysis, the recently diagnosed Little Boss pet store clerk and the customer couple have slightly different genes, but the couple is the same.

Zhang Zhujun said that the above all indicate that the possibility of animal-to-human transmission has greatly increased.

(Finish)