nCoV Cases In Same Building 10 Floors Apart Leads To Evacuations In Hong Kong

[niman]

The CHP early hours of Tuesday evacuating some households from a block of flats in Tsing Yi after two people were diagnosed with the new coronavirus  in Hong Mei House in the Cheung Hong Estate. The 12th case of the virus in Hong Kong involved a resident of the building and a new case identified on Monday involves a woman who lives in a flat of the same number 10 stories away.

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1507800-20200211.htm?spTabChangeable=0

[niman]

The Centre for Health Protection said in the early hours of Tuesday that it was evacuating some households from a block of flats in Tsing Yi after two people were diagnosed with the new coronavirus there – suggesting a community outbreak of the disease.

The two cases have been recorded in Hong Mei House in the Cheung Hong Estate. The 12th case of the virus in Hong Kong involved a resident of the building and a new case identified on Monday involves a woman who lives in a flat of the same number 10 storeys away.

The controller of the centre, Wong Ka-hing, said the evacuation was a "precautionary measure for the safety of the residents" and it wasn't yet clear how the virus had spread.

"It could still be the usual droplet transmission or contact transmission, but there is the environmental factor, which is somehow unique in these two cases as they live in the same building," Wong said.

"So we cannot exclude this possibility, so for safety's sake, of the residents, we want to evacuate them first."

The latest case is the 42nd identified in the SAR, one of six new cases diagnosed yesterday. The woman's family is also said to be showing virus symptoms.

Only people living in flats of the same number, number seven, will be evacuated. The 35-storey building has flats from the second floor.

Engineers from the Housing Department will investigate the sewage system from Tuesday while people living in the affected flats are moved to quarantine centres.
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Last updated: 2020-11-02 HKT 01:43

[niman]

District Building name Date of the last case staying in the building during the symptomatic phase Related confirmed cases

Kwai Tsing Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate 9/2/2020 Case 12, 42

 

https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/building_list_eng.pdf

[CoffeeLover]

Is there any way to know if the air circulation system would be a common factor?

[niman]

6 minutes ago, CoffeeLover said:

Is there any way to know if the air circulation system would be a common factor?

Shared drainage

[niman]

Tsing Yi virus cases 'not a new Amoy Gardens'

 

2020-02-11 HKT 02:42

 

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  Yuen Kwok-yung said it was possible a broken exhaust pipe had led to the spread of the virus. Photo: RTHK

 

Officials have played down the possibility that two cases of the coronavirus in a single block in Tsing Yi could herald a major outbreak similar to the cluster of Sars cases at Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay in 2003.

Housing Department engineers will begin inspecting the toilets in flats in the building on Tuesday after it emerged that a 62-year old woman had developed the disease after another patient, who lives 10 storeys directly above her, was earlier diagnosed with the new virus.

People living in the equivalent flat – flat seven – on all 35 floors of Hong Mei House in the Cheung Hong Estate are being sent into quarantine centres while investigations continue.

The authorities say it's possible the virus spread through faecal matter. But officials say the building's U-shaped water pipes are in a good condition. The failure of U-shaped water seals at Amoy Gardens allowed the spread of Sars, eventually affecting more than 300 people, of whom 42 died.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung told an early-morning media briefing on Tuesday this was not another Amoy Gardens. He said one possibility was that a broken exhaust pipe had allowed the virus to spread.

Wong Ka-hing, the controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said that if the toilets are in order "the residents in this particular unit can soon move back from the quarantine centre to their residence, if they do not have any symptoms suggestive of this new infection."

Officials said there was no need to evacuate everyone in the building, which is understood to be home to more than 2,000 people.

TA spokesman for the centre said: "As for household environmental hygiene, members of the public are advised to maintain drainage pipes properly and regularly pour water into drain outlets (U-traps); after using the toilet, they should put the toilet lid down before flushing to avoid spreading germs."

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1507804-20200211.htm?spTabChangeable=0

[niman]

Hong Kong / Health & Environment

Coronavirus: More than 100 Tsing Yi residents evacuated as Hong Kong health authorities confirm two cases from same block

• Precautionary move sparked by case of woman who lives on third floor of Hong Mei House at Cheung Hong Estate
• A string of newly confirmed cases citywide reported from Monday evening into the early hours of Tuesday brings local total to 42

 

Sum Lok-kei andDanny Mok

Published: 1:37am, 11 Feb, 2020

 

 

267

 

 

Health workers outside the exit of Hong Mei House in Cheung Hong Estate. Photo: Felix Wong

 

More than 100 residents in 35 households at a public estate in Hong Kong were evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday after two people in the block were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus.

The precautionary move was sparked by the case of a 62-year-old woman in Room 307 on the third floor of Hong Mei House at Cheung Hong Estate. She was Hong Kong’s 42nd and latest case as of 1.30am on Tuesday.

 

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She was found to have lived directly below a man in Room 1307 on the 13th floor, who was confirmed earlier to be Hong Kong’s 12th case. While comparisons were quickly drawn with Amoy Gardens in Ngau Tau Kok – the scene of a rapid infection during the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 – University of Hong Kong microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung said this was not the case in Tsing Yi.

The incident at the flat in Tsing Yi prompted comparisons with Amoy Gardens during the Sars outbreak of 2003. Photo: Edmond So

Yuen said a vent pipe, which connected to a discharge pipe in a bathroom was not properly sealed and could have carried the virus – present in faeces – into other toilets by extraction fans.

 

 

“When a person turns on the exhaust fan inside the toilet, the air inside the drainage system can enter via the ventilation pipe,” he said.

 

As a precaution, Yuen said all flats numbered seven on every floor had to be vacated so their piping could be inspected.

“We have reasons to worry that airborne transmission is a possibility,” Yuen said, adding that authorities were not ruling out other routes, such as contact.

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Residents whose flats had the same piping issue would be quarantined for 14 days, even if they showed no symptoms, he added.

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In the 2003 case, it was reported that a U-shaped plumbing design in the drainage system of flats allowed the Sars virus in, with transmission throughout the block mainly through this channel. Amoy Gardens recorded 321 infections with 42 deaths.

 

In Tsing Yi, residents living in 35 flats linked to the drainage system were evacuated overnight and put on medical surveillance, as building inspectors moved in.

HKU’s Professor Yuen Kwok-yung and Centre for Health Protection head Dr Wong Ka-hing address the press Photo: NowTV

Dr Wong Ka-hing, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said the evacuation was a “safety precaution”.

 

“We are not sure what was the exact route of transmission … It could still be through the usual method of droplets or contact,” Wong said.

He added that residents could move back soon if inspectors found the piping in their flats to be in order, adding he did not know the exact number of people evacuated. Police put an initial estimate at 110.

Microbiologist Yuen said it was not possible to evacuate more than 1,000 residents in the building over two confirmed cases, and that the priority was to ensure the safety of the affected flats.

Residents from 35 households were evacuated from the Tsing Yi block. Photo: Felix Wong

According to health authorities, the woman at the centre of the incident developed a cough on February 3 and consulted a private doctor three times between then and February 7. She then sought treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital on February 9 where she was isolated after she tested positive for the coronavirus. She is in stable condition.

The woman’s records showed she visited Macau from January 18 to 19. Her son and daughter-in-law who lived with her also displayed symptoms and were sent to hospital. Her husband and grandson, who are asymptomatic, will be quarantined.

Quarantine list

  

The taxi driver who drove the patient from her home to the hospital at around 2pm on February 9 is urged to call the Centre for Health Protection’s hotline.

Residents from the Tsing Yi block will be sent to one of four quarantine centres operated by the government. Those showing symptoms will be sent to hospital and tested for the virus.

The late-night revelation raised concerns that Hong Kong was facing a community outbreak of the pneumonia-like illness that originated in the mainland city of Wuhan.

 

COMMENTS

 

Sum Lok-kei

Sum Lok-kei joined the Post in 2018. He is a reporter on the Hong Kong desk.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3049921/tsing-yi-residents-evacuated-hong-kong-health

[Enrique]

10 hours ago, niman said:

Shared drainage

In my humble opinion it could be the elevator calling buttons, or just the handle in the main entrance door. The virus can survive in those surfaces for long time. 

[niman]

10 hours ago, Enrique said:

In my humble opinion it could be the elevator calling buttons, or just the handle in the main entrance door. The virus can survive in those surfaces for long time. 

Apartments stacked in room numbers with a 7

[niman]

 The other three additional cases are related to the confirmed case (the 42th case, 62-year-old female patient) in Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate announced yesterday. The patients involved the 37-year-old son and 37-year-old daughter-in-law of the 62-year-old female patient, as well as the father of her daughter-in-law who is aged 75.

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202002/11/P2020021100773.htm

[psk]

10 hours ago, Enrique said:

In my humble opinion it could be the elevator calling buttons, or just the handle in the main entrance door. The virus can survive in those surfaces for long time. 

There are some horrific videos emerging from China showing some people spitting on the buttons and handles in lifts.

[niman]

Just now, psk said:

There are some horrific videos emerging from China showing some people spitting on the buttons and handles in lifts.

Affected apartments under each other (end in 7) = DRAINAGE (not elevators)

[psk]

Thank you.