Filipina DH without symptoms tests positive for COVID-19 at mass testing

Testing for coronavirus may be soon required after health authorities revealed it was studying legal framework of its possible implementation. (SCREENSHOT: isd.gov.hk)

A 39-year-old Filipino domestic worker showing no symptoms of infection tested positive for the coronavirus, Hong Kong health authorities said Saturday.

Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan said the worker was detected through the community mass testing. She stayed with her employer in Tai Cheng Wai in Yuen Long, and on Aug. 29 and 30 she was found to have stayed with fellow domestic workers in a flat in Shui Pin Wai on weekends.

Chuang said when these workers hang out, they would sometimes not wear masks.

She submitted her testing samples Chiu Lut Sau Memorial College in Yuen Long on Sept. 2.

Her employer, two foreign domestic workers, and a friend of hers will be considered as close contacts and will be quarantined.

She is among the seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city, the lowest since the start of the third wave of infections.

Another sample from the universal community testing which tested positive for coronavirus came from a 60-year old man air-conditioning repairman who submitted his sample on Aug. 31. He lives with his wife in Argyle Street and frequents restaurants around the area.

The third unknown case is a 62-year-old mechanic who works in To Kwa Wan and stays in Diamond Hill.

The remaining four local cases are linked to family clusters or previously confirmed cases. Two of them tested preliminary positive yesterday—a 63-year-old male staying in Metro Park Hotel in Mong Kok, and the 64-year-old husband of a confirmed case who submitted her sample on Sept. 1.

Chuang said there were 10 to 20 preliminary positive cases.

Hong Kong has posted 4,858 cases of the coronavirus so far.

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