Hundreds taken into quarantine after Hong Kong Covid-19 outbreak

Hong Kong — Concern spread among Hong Kong’s business and expatriate community as a coronavirus outbreak linked to a gym widened and hundreds of people were taken to government centres for quarantine that can last 14 days.

While the cluster is currently smaller than previous flare-ups such as one in November linked to dance halls in the city, it has engulfed a tightly-knit world of mostly Western expatriates who work for global financial institutions and whose children attend international schools with annual fees of HK$250,000 ($32,000) or more.

Some banks advised staff to not come into offices. HSBC vacated a floor of its main building Thursday for deep cleaning after an employee tested preliminary positive, according to a memo to staff. Only key employees should work from the office until further notice, it said. UBS told some staff to work from home after an employee tested positive. Goldman Sachs  is reverting to a policy of 50% of staff working from home, a spokesperson said.​

​“The latest gym outbreak has brought the pandemic closer to home for many in the industry,” said Ray Wepener, a former structured credit trader at Haitong International Securities. “Many of my in-person meetings have been cancelled or rescheduled, and I continue to get constant updates on which trading floors have been cleared.”

This outbreak is connected to a 27-year-old trainer at Ursus Fitness in Sai Ying Pun, a neighbourhood on Hong Kong Island that is popular with expats. At least 17 confirmed cases have followed among staff and customers of the gym. More than 240 people visited the venue between March 1 and 9 and they now have to go into government quarantine centres.

The Centre for Health Protection has warned that the number of patients linked to the gym cluster may exceed 50, and that many of those involved didn’t wear masks during training sessions. “It is inevitable that if any of them is infected, transmission will occur, especially during exercise,” Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the centre’s Communicable Disease Branch, said at a briefing Thursday.

Local media reported there were about 60 new cases on Friday, most of which were related to the Ursus cluster.

Conditions at some quarantine facilities are spartan, with basic meals delivered through slots in doors of cramped rooms that aren’t equipped with Wi-Fi. Some people have taken to expat forums on Facebook to express concern that certain dietary requirements may not be catered to at the centres.

About 1,000 people in total were in quarantine centres in Hong Kong prior to the latest cluster. Photographs of rooms are circulating on social media. One collection shows a room decorated with pictures on the wall and exercise kit on the floor, next to an unfinished jigsaw.

Hong Kong has had about 11,000 confirmed cases in total, but its quarantine measures are among the strictest in the world. Non-residents are banned from the city if they are arriving from outside of mainland China, Taiwan or Macau, and those who are eligible to enter must spend 21 days in isolation at designated hotels. They have to pay for those stays. The quarantine centres for those sent locally, such as people connected with Ursus Fitness, are free of charge.

The outbreak is a setback for the city just as it was emerging from a winter wave of infections that prompted the government to restrict business operating hours and limit public gatherings. Officials said rules would be tightened again as necessary, denting hopes for a return to normal life and the opening of travel lanes with places such as mainland China and Singapore.

Several international schools were closed for cleaning after positive Covid-19 cases among staff were linked to the outbreak at Ursus gym, while others have suspended face-to-face classes, which only resumed in February for the first time since November, even though they haven’t had any confirmed cases.

Other fitness centers were closed due to cases linked to Ursus. H-Kore said it was closing both of its studios until March 21 after one of its trainers attended a class at Ursus on March 5, while another’s husband — who works at Ursus — tested positive and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The wider sports community was also impacted. Hong Kong Rugby Union confirmed that some players at both senior and junior level have been infected and that club activities would be suspended this weekend. A group of girls from an under-12 rugby team was asked to quarantine in government facilities after one of their coaches who attended Ursus gym tested positive on Wednesday. Hong Kong Football Club cancelled weekend training out of precaution, while some activities were also scrapped at the Cricket Club and Yacht Club.

Covid-19 vaccination rates in Hong Kong have slowed amid concern over side effects from Sinovac Biotech’s shot, with reports of at least four deaths among the more than 140,000 people inoculated. None of the deaths have been linked to the Chinese company’s vaccine, but they’ve added to hesitancy about getting inoculated. The no-show rate for people who made appointments to get Sinovac immunisations rose to 30% Thursday from less than 10% last week.

Bloomberg