8 unit samples test positive

December 11, 2020

Centre for Health Protection Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan:
We did (test the environmental samples of) some rooftop ventilation exits and (the results) were negative in Richland Gardens. We have asked the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department to disinfect the whole of Block D to make sure there's no more residue left.

I think environmental contamination did happen in a unit but we are not sure whether there’s a relationship between the (affected) units. On this, we need some expert advice from the Housing Department and the Buildings Department to check whether there's indeed any linkage between the units, so that we can correlate the findings with our findings, because our findings are all within one unit. But we did find some positive samples from the ventilation fan, so that raised the possibility of pulling some virus droplets from, for example, the toilet or the secretions from the patient.

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 86 additional COVID-19 cases, adding that eight environmental samples collected from Richland Gardens in Kowloon Bay have tested positive for the virus.

At a press briefing this afternoon, the centre's Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said there are 81 local cases, of which 44 are linked with previous ones while 37 have an unknown source of infection.

One more case was detected at Block 6 of Richland Gardens, which is the preliminary positive one announced yesterday.

Dr Chuang also reported that among the 22 environmental samples collected from the Block 6 units where COVID-19 cases were found, eight have tested positive for the virus.

"We did test the environmental samples of some rooftop ventilation exits and the results were negative in Richland Gardens. We have asked the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department to disinfect the whole of Block D to make sure there is no more residue left.

"I think environmental contamination did happen in a unit but we are not sure whether there is a relationship between the affected units. On this, we need some expert advice from the Housing Department and the Buildings Department to check whether there is indeed any linkage between the units, so that we can correlate the findings with our findings, because our findings are all within one unit.

"But we did find some positive samples from the ventilation fan, so that raised the possibility of pulling some virus droplets from, for example, the toilet or the secretions from the patient."

Meanwhile, two more cases were confirmed related to the dance club cluster, taking the total number of patients linked with that cluster to more than 700.

Five new cases were identified at the Sha Tin branch of YATA department store, while one more was detected at the Tseung Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel construction site.

Other cases involve two related to the LOHAS Park construction site in Tseung Kwan O and two to the quarantine facility at AsiaWorld-Expo.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.