Hong Kong Has First Covid Case From Unknown Source in Months

(Bloomberg) -- Officials in Hong Kong have disclosed the first preliminary positive case of Covid-19 from an unknown source in almost three months, a worrying sign as the city works to contain an omicron cluster.

The city's health department suspects that the patient, an unvaccinated worker in the North Point area of the city, carries the omicron variant, although whole genome sequencing still needs to be conducted to confirm if that's the case, according to a government statement on Tuesday.

The highly contagious variant has already scuttled the border reopening with China and sent hundreds of city residents to the government-run quarantine facility in an effort to contain the outbreak before it spreads. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced a vaccine requirement for restaurants and public leisure facilities will be imposed from February 24.

The news raises the possibility that coronavirus may be spreading in the increasingly isolated Asian financial hub via routes of transmission that local health officials haven't been able to trace. Already five local infections have been tied to a Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. aircrew member who ate out with family members in late December when he was unknowingly harboring the virus.

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The latest case involves a 42-year-old man who works in the North Point neighborhood and has no established links to international travel, said Albert Au, an official at the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong. He has developed symptoms, including a fever, officials said. The news was first reported by HK01.

The worker, who lives across the harbor in the northwestern neighborhood of Tuen Mun, wasn't vaccinated, according to the statement. The case underscores the risk of an outbreak in Hong Kong, where only about 62% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

The last infection that officials couldn't trace to its original source came on Oct. 8 and was in a cargo handler, giving him ties to the travel industry.

Due to the high risk of infection, people who live or work at the building where the patient resides will be subject to increased compulsory testing frequency.

Government officials have imposed increasingly strict rules on travelers and aircrew arriving from abroad, as the number of imported omicron infections continues to soar. Multiple flight routes have been banned for two weeks and aircrew now must quarantine, as do all new arrivals, in an effort to prevent the pathogen from sneaking in.