COVID-19 outbreak at Hong Kong gym sends shivers through expat community
Reuters
Published Mar 12, 2021 04:55AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong recorded 60 coronavirus cases on Friday, the city's government said, as it scrambled to contain transmissions mainly amongst its expatriate community after a cluster at a gym spilled into the financial sector and international schools.
Hong Kong's health department told a briefing that around 47 cases were related to the outbreak at Ursus Fitness, a gym in the city's trendy Sai Ying Pun district, which is popular with expatriate lawyers, bankers and hedge fund executives.
Over 240 people were sent to government quarantine due to the gym cluster, authorities said on Thursday. Many of the clients did not wear masks during their workout, they said.
A whole class of primary school students aged around 9 years old at Kellett school, a prestigious British school, were also sent to quarantine, after confirmed cases were found.
One parent will be allowed to accompany them for the 14-day period, the school said.
At least nine schools have temporarily closed as a precautionary measure, schools and teachers said on Thursday. Schools had in recent weeks begun to resume face to face teaching after conducting only online classes since November last year.
Prior to the gym outbreak, daily cases in Hong Kong had fallen to low double digit and single digit levels.
"I don't want to say this is the beginning of the fifth wave," Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, from the city's health department, told a press briefing. She added that she hoped the outbreak could be controlled soon.
Gym goers are now required to wear masks during their workout while fitness centre staff must get a COVID-19 test every 14 days, the government said on Friday.
Hong Kong has recorded around 11,000 total coronavirus cases, far lower than other developed cities. The city of 7.5 million people launched its vaccination programme in February but only 145,800 people have received their first shot so far.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.